August 7, 2002

CONTACT: Stephen Slade (831) 728-5939

Historic Pioneer Ranch To Be Preserved

The historic Las Lomas Ranch (photo), after six generations of ownership by the pioneer Porter family, will stay just the way Diane Porter Cooley remembers it as a child. On Sunday, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and the Porter family dedicated the Porter Preserve in the upper Elkhorn Slough, to continue as permanent open space and a working ranch (popup map).

"I grew up on this land," Cooley told fifty guests at Sunday's dedication. "I've been affected by its beauty and by the people, plants, and animals that shared the land with us" (photo).

Tom and Bernice Porter, Cooley's parents (photo), donated a portion of the property in 1976 and willed the entire 335 acre Las Lomas ranch and marsh to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation last year. Cooley said that her parents confidence grew as "they watched an environmentally responsible organization manage a working ranch."

"My parents wishes were to preserve the natural and agricultural heritage of Elkhorn Slough and the Pajaro Valley for the benefit of future generations," Cooley said. "My family has placed trust in the Elkhorn Slough Foundation to carry out these wishes and to be good stewards of the land."

ESF Executive Director Mark Silberstein promised to "reward and honor the trust placed in us by the Porter family." He said the dedication of the Porter Preserve completed a circle that began when the Porters protected the first land in the Elkhorn Slough. "Now with this dedication we have a continuous corridor of protected land that stretches from the Pajaro Valley, through Elkhorn Slough, all to way to the Pacific Ocean."

Silberstein called the rolling grass lands dotted with coast live oaks "a signature California landscape." He said the Elkhorn Slough Foundation would continue cattle grazing and a wide array of research on the land. He noted that during the past 20 years of the Foundation's collaboration with the Porter family the ranch has hosted significant scientific research carried out by researchers at UCSC, the California Department of Fish and Game, CSUMB, and the California Native Plant Society.

The Las Lomas Ranch was acquired in the 1864 when John T. and Fannie Porter purchased a portion of the Mexican land grant Rancho Bolsa de San Cayetano from General Mariano Vallejo. The house on the ranch was built in 1870. The ranch has remained in the family's hands since the original purchase and was once a thriving dairy, as were many of the properties adjacent to Elkhorn Slough.

Silberstein and Cooley will discuss efforts to protect Elkhorn Slough in a live interview on public radio station KUSP (88.9 FM) on Tuesday (August 13th) from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

Candace Ingram, Chairwoman of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation Board, announced that the Board has established a Stewardship Endowment for the perpetual care of the Porter Preserve. The Foundation is also seeking 100 donors to join its Stewardship Circle by making annual contributions of $1,000 or more.

The Foundation owns or manages more than 2,000 acres -- the largest conservation holdings in the Elkhorn Slough watershed. The Foundation announced plans earlier this summer to more than double the amount of lands it protects over the next three years.

Elkhorn Slough is located in the center of the Monterey Bay and is the second largest tidal salt marsh in the state, after San Francisco Bay. The slough has been designated a "Globally Important Bird Area" by the American Birding Conservancy and the National Audubon Society and hosts nearly 300 species of birds each year.

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation works closely with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, the major public access in the slough. The Foundation also maintains the only wheelchair accessible trail along the slough shore at Kirby Park. For more information about when and where to visit call (831) 728-5939 or go to the Foundation's website at www.elkhornslough.org.