2022 crew members pull Italian Thistle in the Enchanted Forest on The Preserve. Photo by Jackson Brooke. July 21, 2022 By Jackson Brooke, Restoration Manager, and the 2022 Seasonal Restoration Crew When the Santa Lucia Conservancy launched the Grasslands Initiative in 2019, one of the goals that we set was treating 500 acres annually for invasive species. To achieve this [...]
The 2022 Seasonal Restoration Crew. Photo by Jackson Brooke. February 15, 2022 By Jackson Brooke, Restoration Manager In 2019, the Conservancy launched its Grasslands Initiative after a rigorous assessment of the ecological health of The Preserve identified the 5,275 acres of grasslands as both an incredibly significant ecological asset and in dire need of restoration. The goals of the Initiative [...]
Invasive stinkwort. Photo by Joseph DiTomaso. February 8, 2022 By Jackson Brooke, Restoration Manager Native to the Mediterranean and Middle East, Stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens) is a relatively new invader of California and was first reported in Santa Clara County in the 1980s. It has spread aggressively since then and is now found in a majority of counties. Stinkwort’s aromatic leaves [...]
A patch of invasive teasel west of Cienega Pond on the Santa Lucia Preserve earlier this year. Photo by Jackson Brooke. December 29, 2021 By Jackson Brooke, Restoration Manager In this post, we’ll take a look at some photos of our work with teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), one of the Conservancy’s Zero Tolerance Species of invasive plants. Plants on the Zero [...]
2021 Field Crew Member Natalie Chapman and Restoration Manager Jackson Brooke pull weeds in an old oak grove off of Rancho San Carlos Road, known as the Enchanted Forest. Photo by Alix Soliman. November 16, 2021 By Natalie Chapman, 2021 Field Crew Member My time at the Santa Lucia Conservancy allowed me to enjoy a unique balance. My Six months [...]
A thick stand of French broom before the field crew removed it at Penon Peak Gate. Photo by Jackson Brooke. August 31, 2021 By Jackson Brooke, Restoration Technician In 2019, the Santa Lucia Conservancy began implementing the Grasslands Initiative, an ambitious effort to manage and restore roughly 5,000 acres of grasslands on The Santa Lucia Preserve through invasive species management, [...]
Mary Snook hand pulls weeds in the Enchanted Forest in July. Photo by Alix Soliman. August 24, 2021 Mary Snook, 2021 Field Crew Member In April, we took a trip to Penon peak. We walked in a line to hear the results of the most recent plant surveys, and to learn about some of the successes we had seen so [...]
Natalie Chapman and Jackson Brooke hand pull weeds in the Enchanted Forest. Photo by Alix Soliman. August 16, 2021 By Jenna Allred, Natural Lands Manager, and Jackson Brooke, Restoration Technician There are numerous ways to treat invasive species in natural areas, however, not all methods leave the same mark on the landscape or can be applied everywhere. Here on the [...]