The deadline was extremely tight. On Feburary 15, the official start of the breeding season for several rare and endangered bird species, all construction would have to cease on the Model Marsh in Border Field State Park, just north of the Mexican border. Before then, thousands of truckloads of mud and sand had to be hauled from the 20-acre site to an abandoned gravel quarry at the base of the Border Highlands. With years of planning, hard-won permits, and uncounted hours of deliberation behind them, the Coastal Conservancy and its grantee, the Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association (SWIA), dreaded having the project go on hold for another year.

Had it rained, the task of digging out and hauling 135,000 cubic yards of heavy soil over wet ground before the construction window closed would surely have proved impossible. But because San Diego was having a historic drought, the job was on schedule, even with a significant and unexpected find: prehistoric shell mounds thought to have been created by people from the La Jollan culture, dating from about 1000 B.C.–A.D. 1000. Dry weather allowed the careful archeological investigation to proceed. At press time it appears that the the challenging project will be completed on schedule in a single construction season. SWIA is planning a springtime celebration.

Pismo Beach Dinosaur Caves Access

The City of Pismo Beach will plan and design public access improvements for Dinosaur Caves Park, with the help of $100,000 from the Coastal Conservancy. The 11-acre blufftop property has spectacular ocean vistas, rock reefs, and a “blow hole.” Sea lions, otters, dolphins, and pelicans can be seen offshore. Planned improvements include a parking lot, playground, restrooms, picnic areas, viewing platforms, and wheelchair-accessible paths. Construction will begin later this year, once additional funds are obtained by the City.

A Marsh Restored in Irvine Restoration work has been completed on 45 acres of degraded wetlands at the University of California’s 200-acre San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve, on the Irvine campus. The project is just upstream from the salt marshes of Upper Newport Bay. Agricultural and urban development during the last century turned wetlands here to uplands, and allowed exotic plants and animals to become established. In August 1999, the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy and the University’s Natural Reserve System began restoration work with funding from the Coastal Conservancy, the League for Coastal Protection, the Irvine and Clarke Foundation, and the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project. By early January 2000 a pump station and water intake structure were installed to enable the reserve manager to bring in water from San Diego Creek; a water distribution system of pipes and slide gates was laid; and ponds choked by sediment and plants were excavated, contoured, and replanted with native marsh species. Water levels will be managed to maintain diverse marsh habitats and prevent invasive plants from reestablishing and sediment from accumulating. In addition, a three-acre riparian corridor was planted and the first phase of a five-year effort to restore 20 acres of coastal sage scrub on the Reserve margins was completed.

Scenic Ranch on Sonoma Coast

In late January, the Conservancy, Sonoma Land Trust, and Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District were completing the acquisition of the 910-acre Red Hill Ranch, one mile south of Jenner. The owners, brother and sister George and Celeste Sequeira, have managed the ranch for grazing for 40 years. The land trust approached them after learning they had filed a timber harvest plan to meet operating expenses.

In December the Conservancy approved $1 million toward the $2.37 million purchase price. The Open Space District will provide the rest of the needed funds. A conservation easement will be placed on the property, and title will be transferred to California State Parks.

The purchase will protect a 50-acre redwood grove, canyons, and ridges with sweeping views. Trail connections will be built to the Coastal Trail and to Willow Creek State Park, to the north. Environmental campsites will be created. Public ownership of Red Hill will also reduce trespass by visitors in search of coastal access and views.

Navarro Point Acquired

The Mendocino Land Trust acquired 56 acres at Navarro Point, just north of the Navarro River along Highway 1, in December. The Conservancy approved over $1.1 million for the acquisition, and an additional $85,000 to plan, open, and maintain access to other coastal sites in Mendocino County.

Navarro Point has splendid ocean views across grasslands long used for grazing. The land trust will develop public uses that will protect scenic and natural resources, and will establish a $300,000 trust for long-term management.

CHALLENGE GRANTS

The following three projects were partly funded by the Conservancy under the Governor’s Challenge Grant Program, established to acquire and improve coastal wetlands and provide public access. The program requires at least an equal match of non-state funds. The Triangle Marsh acquisition (p. 39) is also a Challenge Grant project.

Watershed Resource Center in Santa Barbara County

The Community Environmental Council of Santa Barbara will establish the South Coast Watershed Resource Center at Arroyo Burro Beach County Park with the help of $450,000 from the Coastal Conservancy. The center will seek to educate the community about watershed issues, and to serve the needs and interests of school groups and visitors to one of the most popular beaches in southern Santa Barbara County. The center will be located in a former park ranger residence leased from the County.

Farmland above Elkhorn Slough Protected

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation will acquire a conservation easement over the 195-acre Triple M Ranch, northeast of Moss Landing in Monterey County, and will develop a management plan for this property with the help of $530,000 from the Conservancy. The easement will prevent subdivision of the ranch, thus protecting wildlife habitat as well as steep slopes and creekside fields. Cultivation of such fields can cause erosion and add to contamination of downstream marshes.

The farm will be a training center for the nonprofit Rural Development Center, to promote sustainable agricultural practices for mostly Hispanic farmers in the Salinas Valley. The Center will contribute $200,000 for acquisition of fee title to the property subject to the easement. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation will provide $500,000 in matching funds for the easement. The Packard Foundation funded preparation of the Elkhorn Slough Conservation Plan, which recommends that the environmental resources of Triple M Ranch be protected.

Window-on-the-Bay Purchases

To enable the city of Monterey to reclaim public access to Monterey Bay and open some obstructed coastal views, the Conservancy approved $2 million. The funds will be used to help purchase four commercial properties on Del Monte Avenue between Monterey’s northern border and Wharf No. 2. The City’s Window-on-the-Bay project aims to create a continuous stretch of parks and open space along the Bay shoreline.

S.F. BAY CONSERVANCY

The San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program, established in 1999 within the Coastal Conservancy, undertakes projects to protect wildlife habitat, farmland, and parkland throughout the greater Bay Area. The legislature and governor allocated $10 million for this fiscal year under this new program. Projects approved and partly funded so far include:

New Marshes for Oakland’s Lake Merritt

The City of Oakland will plan and design new marshes in Lake Merritt with the help of $90,000 from the Coastal Conservancy. The lake’s marshes have been destroyed by dredging, tidal flow restrictions, and bulkheads. The creation of new marsh habitat will benefit birds, fish, and thousands of people who visit the lake daily to walk, jog, bicycle, take small craft out on the water, and watch the birds.

Flocks of wild geese, pelicans, herons, and other birds find shelter in the bird sanctuary on the lake’s five islands. Construction of new marsh habitat, expected to begin in autumn, will provide new roosting, feeding, and nesting habitat, help to filter pollution, and stop erosion that is toppling trees in Lakeside Park and undermining a roadway.

King Ranch Habitat Protection

The solano county Farmlands and Open Space Foundation, a nonprofit land trust, will receive $1 million from the Coastal Conservancy to acquire 500 acres of the King Ranch near Suisun Marsh from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). The King Ranch and nearby PG&E properties consist of highly scenic open space in an area bounded by highways I-80, I-680, and I-780. The land is habitat for a variety of wildlife, including the California red-legged frog, the giant garter snake, and the Calliope silverspot butterfly, all listed as endangered or threatened species.

The properties also offer sites for extending the Bay Area Ridge Trail and constructing a trail system that would provide views of San Pablo and Suisun Bays and the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. In 1994 the Cities of Benecia, Vallejo, and Fairfield and Solano County adopted the Tri-City and County Cooperative Plan for Agriculture and Open Space Preservation, which covers 10,000 acres that include the King Ranch. The goals of the plan are to protect open space, promote existing agricultural uses, offer recreational opportunities, and provide for habitat protection and restoration.

Brushy Peak Preserve to Expand

The coastal conservancy approved $300,000 to help the East Bay Regional Park District buy 395 acres of land, mostly rolling grassy hills, southeast of Los Vaqueros Reservoir. The Park District will provide the rest of the $1.1 million needed to purchase this property, which will be added to the Brushy Peak Regional Reserve near Livermore. The acquisition will expand contiguous wildlife habitat between the reservoir and Brushy Peak to over 20,000 acres.

Protection for Marin County Farms

The marin agricultural Land Trust (MALT) will purchase conservation easements on two cattle ranches totaling over 900 acres, with the help of $330,000 from the Coastal Conservancy. The easements will permanently protect agricultural land, scenic open space, and wildlife habitat. One of the ranches is in the Chileno Valley, west of Petaluma, and is contiguous with eight other MALT easements. The other is near Tomales, and adjoins three other MALT-protected farms. Both ranches contain habitat for fish, resident and migratory birds, and other wildlife. Additional funds for the purchase will be contributed by the Marin County Open Space District, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and private donors to MALT.

Audubon to Acquire Triangle Marsh

With the help of $375,000 from the Coastal Conservancy, the Marin Audubon Society will acquire 31-acre Triangle Marsh, which lies between the Ring Mountain Nature Preserve and the Corte Madera Ecological Reserve, at the north end of the Tiburon Peninsula.

The current owner of this tidal marsh has made several attempts to develop the site over the last 16 years, but has not been able to obtain the necessary permits. The Marin Audubon Society has sought to acquire the property for the last 25 years. Most of the Conservancy’s funds for the purchase will come from the Governor’s Challenge Grant Program. The remaining $510,000 needed is expected to come from the Marin Baylands Fund, Marin Community Foundation, Baykeeper, Cape Mohican Oil Spill Settlement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife S.F. Bay Program, State Lands Commission, and Wildlife Conservation Board.

Bear Creek Redwoods Purchase

A $3 million grant and a $3 million no-interest loan from the Coastal Conservancy are helping the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) to buy land in Bear Creek Redwoods Regional Open Space Preserve, south of Los Gatos in Santa Clara County. The Conservancy’s funds enabled POST to repay most of a $10 million commercial loan used to buy 805 acres of the preserve in March 1999. POST intends to transfer title to the property to the Midpeninsula Open Space District, which paid $15 million for an additional 260 acres of the preserve at the time of POST’s acquisition. Only a 20-minute drive from downtown San Jose, the preserve contains 14.5 miles of trails, including stretches of the San Francisco Bay Area Ridge Trail and the Los Gatos Creek Trail. These trails connect to Lexington Reservoir County Park and three other open space preserves. Bear Creek Preserve is home to at least 90 species of birds, 32 species of mammals, and 22 species of reptiles and amphibians. Mountain lions and golden eagles are among animals that depend on habitat there.

To pay back its loans, POST will seek contributions of $5 million from private donors and $2 million from the State Wildlife Conservation Board.

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