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 KATHERINE DAVIS  KATHERINE DAVIS  BOB STENDER  BOB STENDER  KATHERINE DAVIS You can observe whales, birds, local high school students, or people
with binoculars at the whale festivals. Hal Hauck explains the Fresnel lens. |
WANT TO SEE A 90-YEAR-OLD LIGHTHOUSE, with a Fresnel lens
that shines a light 15 miles out to sea? Or watch a mama marsh hawk teach
her fledglings to hunt? Maybe you get a thrill from watching gray whales
spouting and breaching on their migratory journey just offshore; or perhaps
you just want to sit on a wind-swept headland, listening to the natural
quiet. You can do all this, and more, at the Point Cabrillo Preserve, just
north of the Town of Mendocino. Created by the Coastal
Conservancy in 1992, the 300-acre preserve is still little known by people
outside the immediate area. It's just off Highway 1, the main north coast
tourist artery, but foliage and topography screen it from motorists' view.
Visitors hike the half-mile road (closed to vehicles) from the gate to
the historic Point Cabrillo Light Station, then walk along blufftop trails.
The local chapter of the Audubon Society leads birders out from time to
time, and on summer Sundays there is a tour led by volunteer docents knowledgeable
in the natural and cultural history of the place. Otherwise the windswept
headland and rocky shore belong mostly to wildlife. Each year, however, more
people find their way here, and having found it, many return. On Memorial
Day weekend almost 400 showed up on Sunday--twice the usual crowd. Was
this a harbinger of things to come? How many visitors can the preserve
accommodate without serious disturbance to the natural environment? Tourism is growing on
the north coast, compensating somewhat for the revenue losses sustained
because of the precipitous decline of the timber and fishing industries.
This tourism is substantially based on the region's natural attraction--the
wildness of this magnificent coast. Is it possible to maintain such wildness
while welcoming more visitors? The nonprofit North Coast
Interpretive Association (NCIA), which manages the Point Cabrillo Preserve
in partnership with the Coastal Conservancy, believes that education and
personal involvement are the keys to finding the answer. They appreciate
and encourage a growing sense of community stewardship. Local people give
of their knowledge, time, and energy on the preserve's behalf, and some
of them are becoming experts on its natural and cultural history. A small
group of devoted volunteers appears weekly to remove invasive alien plants,
guided by experts from the local chapter of the California Native Plant
Society. A class in birding by ear (identifying birds by song and call),
offered by the NCIA in partnership with the Audubon Society, is helping
other volunteers develop the skills needed to help in the biennial land
bird survey. Community involvement
is a two-way street. The NCIA works to make sure that projects at the preserve
(currently, these include a visitor center and small parking lot, and restoration
of light station buildings) are thoroughly discussed at public meetings
and in local media. To encourage nature-friendly
tourism, NCIA collaborates with the Fort Bragg/Mendocino Coast Chamber
of Commerce on the Whale Festivals that occur every March--at the end of
the slow season--on the north coast. Point Cabrillo puts on its own part
of the festival, and each year more people come to watch the giants pass
by. Most of the NCIA's attention,
however, is devoted to monitoring and nurturing the preserve's natural
resources, protecting and restoring its historic buildings, and encouraging
people to use this unique place for learning. The NCIA has hired a consultant
to develop curricula for grades 2-5. Each program explores an aspect of
natural and cultural history. "The children are attentive and fascinated
at how much there is to learn, and, judging by their letters, they really
enjoy their time here," says the preserve's resident manger, Lisa
Weg. Efforts are now under
way to create internship and independent study opportunities for students
at high schools in the area and at the College of the Redwoods, and to
incorporate marine science into the preserve's education program. How many visitors can
the preserve sustain? The answer will depend in large part on what is learned
from the vegetation surveys and bird counts conducted by local volunteers.
The number of locals with expert knowledge of the preserve's resources
is growing, as is the number of people who are developing a personal stake
in conservation after putting in a lot of sweat equity by pulling thistle,
counting wildlife, serving as docents, and contributing in other ways.
Those who came here as children on school trips have learned something
of the preserve's value. So has everyone who hiked that half mile from
the gate to the lighthouse and stood watching the wild ocean. Eventually,
visitors from elsewhere may outnumber the locals, but it's clear who will
be looking out for Point Cabrillo's future.  Julia McIver, a Coastal Conservancy project manager, helped to create the Point Cabrillo Preserve and is now on the North Coast Interpretive Association's board of directors. |
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