Summer is a fine time to kick back, lie on the beach, and think about where you’ve been and where you’re going.

If you’re looking for a good beach, check out Malibu’s first new public beach in 18 years—Lechuza Beach, a few miles west of Point Dume. After an 11-year effort, in May the Coastal Conservancy was finally able to complete the purchase of this wide, sandy beach for public use and enjoyment.

As with many of the Conservancy’s long-term projects, this one went through many fits and starts over the years, as the former owner pursued plans to develop the beach for private residences. Working closely with the local community, the Conservancy kept its eyes on the goal and finally arranged acceptable terms for the property’s purchase. The price wasn’t cheap—over $9 million—but the growing population of southern California now has a new place to seek relief from the stresses of urban life, play in the surf, and enjoy the warm sand and sunshine for which Malibu is famous.

On the north coast, a fine place to reflect on California’s history and the spectacular beauty of its coast is at Point Cabrillo (see p. 30), a few miles north of the town of Mendocino. The coast may be more rugged here than in Malibu, but the experience is every bit as satisfying. Wind-swept bluffs overlook crashing surf, seals lounge on offshore rocks, whales parade by from December through May, and a lighthouse keeps vigil on a rocky promontory, as it has been doing for almost a century.

The Conservancy has been involved with Point Cabrillo since 1978, the year after the agency was formed. A deteriorating Coast Guard light station on a spectacular rocky headland adjacent to privately owned lands was extremely vulnerable to residential development. Between 1988 and 1991, with strong support from the local community, the Conservancy acquired the property in several pieces and began to restore the light station’s historic buildings and the headland’s rich native habitat. Working closely with the community, the Conservancy developed plans for the property to become a California State Park. Point Cabrillo Light Station was transferred to State Parks last May, after 24 years of Conservancy work to ensure the future of this treasure.

Lechuza Beach and Point Cabrillo were complicated projects that took many years to complete. Looking ahead, the Conservancy has recently taken on several new and even more complicated challenges, including two huge wetland preservation efforts, one on San Francisco Bay, the other in Ventura County.

In June, federal and state agencies reached a preliminary agreement to purchase 16,500 acres of salt ponds from Cargill Inc. to add to south San Francisco Bay’s wildlife habitat. The purchase price is $100 million, and it is estimated that the ponds’ restoration will take 20–100 years. This restoration should allow one or more species to be removed from the federal and state endangered species lists, bring bird populations up to levels not seen since the Gold Rush, and provide people with many square miles of natural lands to enjoy and explore. The Conservancy will coordinate the restoration planning process, which is expected to take five years.

Also in June, the Conservancy purchased from Southern California Edison 265 acres of dunes and wetlands along two miles of shoreline in Oxnard. The Ormond Beach property is at the center of a historic chain of wetlands that once stretched for nine miles along the coast. Much of it could be restored for the benefit of several endangered plants and animals, over 200 species of birds, and many other varieties of wildlife. The purchase of Ormond Beach is round one of a landscape-sized project that will take decades to finish.

From projects like Lechuza Beach and Point Cabrillo, we know that persistence and hard work pay off. We are willing and eager to embark on other, much more difficult projects that may not be completed in our lifetimes, or even our children’s lifetimes. Ormond Beach and the Cargill Salt ponds are truly enormous efforts—restoration and habitat conservation on a regional or landscape level.

But right now it’s summertime, a good time to lie on the beach and appreciate the wonders of California’s coast. We will spend the rest of this summer preparing for the next 20 years of restoration, dreaming of the coastline our grandchildren will inherit.

—Sam Schuchat

Where the Coastal Conservancy’s
Proposition 12 Money Is Going

When voters approved Proposition 12 two years ago, they enabled the Coastal Conservancy, in partnership with other agencies and nonprofit organizations, to undertake major projects along the coast and San Francisco Bay for people and wildlife. The Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 provided $2.1 billion, of which $250.4 million went to the Conservancy. Unless otherwise noted, all the diverse projects described below, approved between April and June, were funded with Proposition 12 money.

Point St. George Protected

Point St. George, just north of Crescent City, is the site of the earliest known human habitation along the northern California–southern Oregon coast. Among artifacts found—some dating to 310 B.C.—are bone needles, stone net-sinkers, and charcoal from hearths. The Tolowa people and their ancestors have lived in this area for centuries.

From the steep bluffs, several trails lead down to sandy beaches. Blufftop meadows, wetlands, and nearby forests are home to abundant birds and wildlife, including mountain beaver, river otter, and the threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly. In spring, flocks of Aleutian Canada geese roost on offshore rocks during their northward migration, while human visitors flock in for the Aleutian Goose Festival.

Although the Conservancy has been interested in protecting Point St. George for over 10 years, and has conducted several studies to detail its natural resources, the owners were not willing to sell until last year, when they approached the agency. In June, the Conservancy approved up to $1.5 million to Del Norte County toward the purchase of 339 acres for $3 million. The Wildlife Conservation Board is expected to contribute $1.25 million, and the Smith River Rancheria $500,000. Using $50,000 of the Conservancy’s funding, the County will prepare a management plan, working with Tolowa people of the Smith River and Elk Valley Rancherias and other groups.

In addition to protecting grasslands, wetlands, and three miles of beaches, the purchase of Point St. George will allow the County to upgrade Crescent City Airport. It will enable the airport to expand runways, retain its commercial status, and comply with requirements for modern commuter jets by providing 60 acres on its east side as a buffer area, as required by the Federal Aviation Administration.

New on Eureka’s Waterfront

Eureka’s waterfront revival moved another step forward in June, when the Conservancy approved $1.5 million to help the City build a commercial fishing dock, two walkways, and a pedestrian plaza. These improvements will not only open more of the bayfront for public enjoyment, they will also support commercial fishermen and allow for direct dock-to-table sales.

The new 40-foot-wide fishing dock will run for 420 feet along the waterfront westerly from C Street, and will allow up to three fishing vessels to unload while providing room for a public walkway. It will be part of a larger Fishermen’s Terminal project, which will eventually include a fish buying and distribution center where the public will be able to buy directly from fishermen. A pedestrian plaza will be built at the foot of the dock, with space for farmers’ markets, live music, and other activities. The plaza will be the heart of a city redevelopment project, Seaport Village Square, with commercial space and residential units.

The new dock will allow the public to walk along the water beyond the popular boardwalk, built with the help of Conservancy funds and opened last year, which runs from F Street to C Street. A tree-lined walkway at F Street links the boardwalk with Old Town. A second walkway will be built at C Street.

These projects counter the effects of a long-term decline in the city’s resource-based industries. Many structures along Humboldt Bay have been abandoned and have deterioriated, and most of the city’s five-mile waterfront has been inaccessible. Construction of the fishing dock and walkways is expected to begin in early 2003 and be completed within a year. Additional contributions to these projects include $1.3 million from the Eureka Redevelopment Agency, $500,000 from California State Parks, and $700,000 in federal funds. Part of the Conservancy’s funding is available through Proposition 12.

North Coast Ranch Protected by Easement

The 3,600-acre Howe Creek Ranch, in Humboldt County, is likely to become a model for north coast family ranchers who want to improve the viability of their operations while keeping natural resources on their lands sustainable and intact.

Steve Hackett grew up on the ranch, which has been in the family for five generations, and now manages it, running cattle and harvesting timber on its rolling hills. Like many ranchers, however, he has been financially unable to invest in improvements that would lead to long-term sustainability (see Coast & Ocean, Winter 2000–01).

The ranch lies eight miles from the ocean, in the Eel River watershed. Its 13 miles of healthy streams provide habitat for coho and Chinook salmon and steelhead; almost 2,000 acres of forest sustains wild mammals including bears and mountain lions. It has 1,500 acres of grassland and coastal scrub. Birds on the land include the northern spotted owl and bald eagle.

The Hackett family decided to sell a conservation easement over the property to the Pacific Forest Trust (PFT), at $1.25 million less than its appraised value. In June the Conservancy approved $1.15 million to PFT for this purchase. The state Wildlife Conservation Board has approved $911,000.

The owners are donating an endowment to PFT to enable it to monitor the easement and help develop conservation-oriented timber harvest plans and other restoration and preservation efforts.

The ranch and the surrounding region were extensively logged, particularly during the first half of the 20th century, when much of the old-growth forest was lost. The family’s primary objective is to protect the property’s ecological values while maintaining an economically viable ranching and timber operation, restricting timber harvesting to allow the forests to recover.

Conservation easements are deed restrictions landowners voluntarily place on their properties to protect resources such as productive farmland, wildlife habitat, or scenic views. The nonprofit PFT (www.pacificforest.org) worked closely with the Hacketts on the terms of the easement.

Other landowners in the region have expressed an interest in similar easements. A large-scale conservation effort within the Eel River watershed could help sustain ranching operations and protect salmonid resources.

Mattole Forest Protected

To protect old-growth trees and fill a gap between two parts of Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, the Conservancy approved $1,231,000 in April to enable the Northcoast Regional Land Trust to buy 320 acres of forest land at the top of the Mattole River watershed. The property lies across the Humboldt-Mendocino County border on Baker Creek, about four miles from the coast. The land trust intends to convey it to State Parks. Included in the acquisition is land owned by Sanctuary Forest, Inc. and Barnum Timber Company, Inc. Sanctuary Forest will provide about $154,000 toward the purchase cost, estimated at $1,385,000.

The Mattole River’s anadromous fish habitat has been damaged by sediment washed from deforested slopes and roadcuts. The river’s lower channel, which was deep and meandering before logging in the upper watershed, is now shallow and braided, with seasonal warm water that can be lethal to young salmon. The acquisition of the headwaters properties for conservation ensures that tree cover can be maintained to protect water quality and manage sediment runoff to prevent it from building up in river channels and suffocating eggs of spawning
steelhead and salmon. The protected multi-storied forest cover will also help to keep water at the cool temperatures these fish require.

Santa Rosa Trail Extended

Sonoma county will extend the Joe Rodota section of the West County Regional Trail into downtown Santa Rosa with the help of $250,000 approved by the Conservancy in April. The trail runs along an abandoned railroad right-of-way parallel to Highway 12.

Marin Farm Protected

The marin agricultural Land Trust (MALT) has protected another 1,310 acres for farming and habitat with the purchase of a conservation easement over the Barboni ranch, located between Novato and Petaluma in an area that is highly desirable for estate homes. With this $2 million purchase, completed in June, MALT has protected almost 32,000 acres on 47 family farms and ranches in the past 22 years. The Conservancy has provided almost $3 million to MALT during that time, contributing $905,000 toward this purchase.

The easement allows continued agricultural use and protects soil and water while preventing non-farm development. The Barboni family will use the proceeds to complete the purchase of a 448-acre parcel that was part of the family’s original holdings and will be included in the area covered by the easement. The ranch lies on the southeastern edge of the Walker Creek watershed. About two-thirds of the land is pasture, the rest is steep and densely wooded with madrone, pine, and oak.

Las Trampas Preserve to Grow

The east bay regional park District will add a 196-acre ranch to Las Trampas Regional Preserve, using $438,750 approved by the Conservancy in June, matched by its own funds. The ranch in the San Ramon Valley includes oak woodlands, chaparral-covered hillsides, several small ponds, and over half a mile of Bollinger Creek. The central feature is 1,754-foot-high Rocky Ridge, which offers views of the Diablo ridgelands and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Mueller family has owned the property since the 1930s and has offered to sell it to the park district for almost $400,000 below its appraised value.

Butano State Park to Grow

Save-the-Redwoods League has purchased an 80-acre timberland near Butano State Park in San Mateo County. The property includes about 30 acres of old-growth forest that may be habitat for the endangered marbled murrelet, a robin-sized seabird that nests in old-growth coniferous forests along the coast.

The University of California had owned the land since the 1860s, and its Board of Regents recently directed that it be offered for sale to a nonprofit conservation organization. If such a deal could not be worked out, however, the property would have been placed on the open market, exposing it to purchase by timber interests. The League met the $720,000 price with the help of two $180,000 grants from the Conservancy, one reimbursable, to be repaid in three years. The League proposes to transfer the property to California State Parks for inclusion in Butano State Park.

Downtown San Jose Park

Guadalupe River Park, in downtown San Jose, will get $1.7 million from the Conservancy for multi-use trails, an irrigation system, signs, educational panels, benches, picnic tables, and other furnishings. The park is being created within a flood-control project. Parts of it have already been built and are heavily used, the rest is to be completed in 2004. Extending 2.6 miles along the west side of downtown between highways 880 and 280, the park is expected to be used by more than 1.3 million people a year. The new 12-foot-wide trails will be integrated with the city’s regional trails network, and ultimately will connect to the San Francisco Bay Trail to the north and the Bay Area Ridge Trail to the south.

The Army Corps of Engineers has been working on flood problems along the Guadalupe River since 1941. In 1985 a park was incorporated into the project’s design. Construction began in 1992 but stopped in 1996, partly because of new requirements to protect central coast steelhead trout and fall-run Chinook salmon. The Corps and the City completed a revised project plan in February 2001, and construction has since resumed. The San Jose Redevelopment Agency is providing $6 million toward the total cost of the park’s development, estimated at over $8 million. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission will provide over $500,000.

Protection for Gaviota Coast Ranches

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has secured funding for the purchase of 2,500 acres of El Capitan Ranch, nine miles west of Goleta. The purchase will preserve scenic open space and wildlife habitat, and will allow for 11 miles of public trails, stretching from El Capitan State Beach to Los Padres National Forest. TPL will convey the property to State Parks, to be added to El Capitan State Beach. The purchase price is $9.5 million, $2.5 million less than the appraised value. The Conservancy has contributed $3 million, State Parks will contribute $5 million, a state transportation grant is expected to provide $1 million, and TPL has raised the remaining $500,000. The ranch owners will retain 600 acres but will donate a conservation easement to the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County to limit development potential.

In another action on the Gaviota Coast, the Conservancy approved $200,000 to the Land Trust for purchase of conservation easements on the 745-acre La Paloma Ranch and another property of six acres north of Refugio State Beach, both owned by the Hvolbøll family. The family has operated La Paloma Ranch since 1866, growing walnuts and avocados and raising cattle. It will sell the easements for $1.2 million, donating nearly one-fourth of their value. Santa Barbara County and the State Resources Agency will contribute most of the cost of the easement.

San Luis Obispo Creek Work

For the past several years, the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County has taken the lead in coordinating over 30 riparian and steelhead restoration projects in the San Luis Obispo Creek watershed, including the removal or modification of nine instream barriers to steelhead migration. These projects were funded with $2 million provided through the Avila Beach Trustee Council, which was established to administer settlement funds from the 1992 Avila Beach Oil Spill.

In June the Coastal Conservancy approved $750,000 to the Land Conservancy to buy Creekside Farms, an 80-acre property with nearly a mile of high quality steelhead habitat along lower San Luis Obispo Creek. In addition to protecting and enhancing this habitat, the Land Conservancy intends to preserve agricultural values by leasing apple and cherry orchards on the property to the previous owner for continued production. Proceeds from the lease will fund restoration efforts, including removal of cape ivy that is spreading along the stream.

New Sand for Goleta Beach

Sand will be pumped ashore in November at Goleta Beach to prevent further beach erosion and wave damage. The Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON) will dredge 250,000 cubic yards of sand from one mile offshore and deposit it on this beach, which is next to the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara. Some sand is expected to drift downcoast, nourishing other beaches. To fund the project, the Coastal Conservancy approved $1.4 million in April. The Department of Boating and Waterways will contribute $650,000.

Based largely on a study funded by the Conservancy last year, BEACON has determined that pumping sand from offshore directly to the beach would be most effective at this site, and would have fewer potential side-effects than an alternative beach nourishment method recently used successfully in northern San Diego County, where sand was brought to a nearshore zone then allowed to wash onto the beach. BEACON will monitor the project to document how long the new sand stays in place and to gather information for future project planning.

BEACON is a joint powers agency formed in 1986 to address shoreline erosion and sand loss along the Santa Barbara and Ventura County coast.

More Land and Access for Laguna Coast Park

Over 10 acres will be added to Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, allowing the public to enter from El Toro Road, and from there to reach many miles of trails that extend to the coast. The City of Laguna Woods has bought the property, which contains coastal sage scrub habitat, and will lease it for a nominal amount to Orange County, which manages the park. The Conservancy approved $2.6 million for the purchase in May; the City contributed $100,000 and plans to repay the Conservancy $215,000 at no interest within one year. If the property had not been purchased by the City, it might have become the site of 23 new single-family residences. Instead it will become part of an 11,000-acre greenbelt that includes Crystal Cove State Park, Irvine Company Open Space Reserves (managed by the Nature Conservancy), Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, a small ecological reserve owned by the Department of Fish and Game, and several Laguna Beach open space sites.

Newport Beach Natural Park

The City of Newport Beach will improve wildlife habitat at Castaways Park, which overlooks the south end of Upper Newport Bay, by replacing invasive alien plants with natives and recreating historical habitats. Trails designed to protect habitats will be built, and a demonstration garden to inform visitors about native plant communities and the wildlife they support will be installed. To fund these projects, in May the Conservancy approved $99,600 to the City, which will provide $75,000.

The 17-acre park lies just north of Pacific Coast Highway on the east side of Dover Drive. It has an acre of wetlands and a small canyon. In 1998, at the urging of many residents, the City designated Castaways a “natural park.” Citizens raised $10,000 for habitat restoration, which the City matched.

Madrona Marsh Upgrade

To enable the City of Torrance to reduce pollution and restore wildlife habitat at Madrona Marsh Preserve, at Sepulveda Boulevard and Madrona Avenue, the Conservancy approved $780,000 in April, and the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to provide $750,000 more. The City plans to expand the marsh’s open water area and install a pipeline that will bring reclaimed water to irrigate plants around the preserve and neighboring nature center. The stormwater treatment system will be improved to reduce or eliminate pollutants that drain into the marsh.

Wheelchair Guide Now On-line

A Wheelchair Rider’s Guide: Los Angeles and Orange County Coasts, is now available on-line in two electronic formats. You can download the complete guide as a PDF file, or use the interactive version, which has site descriptions linked to maps and other features. Both versions are on the Coastal Conservancy web site (www.scc.ca.gov). To get a free printed copy of the guide, published last October by Coastwalk and the Coastal Conservancy, contact the Conservancy. (See inside front cover for address.)

Work has also begun on an expanded and updated edition of A Wheelchair Rider’s Guide: San Francisco Bay Area and Nearby Shorelines, first published in 1990 and now out of print. The new edition, to be published in 2003, is a project of the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Conservancy.