This Web Walk will take you through the heart of the 356-acre Brothers Ranch (see our site profile, below), which the Elkhorn Slough Foundation purchased in 2002. The aerial photo below shows the ranch, and following pages show photographs taken from the viewpoints indicated on the map – the apex of each “V” shows the location of the camera, the open end of the “V” shows the direction of the view. Click on a number in the map to see the view from that point (or, if your browser does not recognize the links in the map, click the links to the left of the map), or click the “next” link above to start on the walk. Click here to see where Brothers Ranch fits into the lands protected by ESF.

Brothers Ranch Site Profile

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation, with the help of the Nature Conservancy, developed a comprehensive Watershed Conservation Plan in 1999. This plan guides our conservation work and led to the goal, announced in June 2002, to double the amount of land we protect to more than 4,000 acres.

As part of this ambitious plan, the Brothers Ranch was acquired in the fall of 2002. Prior to the acquisition, ESF Land Acquisition Coordinator Kevin Contreras prepared this site profile to evaluate the property's ecological importance (Rank 1-5, with 5 the highest):

Acreage: 356 acres
Funding: California Coastal Conservancy ($1.5M), Packard Foundation ($.5M)
Habitat: 50 acres of oak woodland, 40 acres of maritime chaparral, 211 acres of non-native grassland and fallow cultivated areas, 35 acres of eucalyptus, 13 acres currently cultivated, 3.4 acres of riparian woodland, 1.3 acres of freshwater marsh.

Will purchase protect critical resources or ecological linkages?
 4  Coastal marsh
 4  Riparian or freshwater wetland
 5  Maritime chaparral and/or associated oak woodlands
 5  Rare species
 3  Productive agricultural lands
 5  Scenic viewshed of Elkhorn Slough

Will purchase eliminate or reduce major stresses on the environment?
 5  Reduces sediment movement and/or damaging run-off into slough
 5  Prevents destruction/fragmentation of critical habitat
 5  Reduces depletion of groundwater

Will purchase restore or enhance biological functions?
 4  Land has high restoration potential
 5  Land can provide habitat for rare species or wildlife
 5  Land can provide linkage to other habitat areas