Survey informs update of Strategic Plan

September 26, 2023 Beautiful surroundings, a natural setting, community, and sustainability ranked as the most prized values of life on the Preserve, according to a survey conducted this summer. Those surveyed ranked wildfire mitigation and management as their highest environmental concern (71.6% identified this as important or extremely important), and a significant number expressed strong interest in participating in land […]

Berries of the Preserve

September 25, 2023 by Amanda Campos, Communications Intern Berries are loved by humans and animals alike. Conventionally, we use “berry” to describe any small, fleshy, and edible fruit. However, the botanical definition of a true berry is a fruit produced from one single flower with one ovary, typically having many seeds. So, scientifically speaking, bananas are berries, while strawberries are […]

SLC Welcomes Conservation Ecologist Emma Levy

Photo by Alix Soliman. July 25, 2023 By Jamison Watts, Executive Director The Santa Lucia Conservancy is excited to welcome conservation ecologist Emma Levy, M.S., to our team. Levy is a biologist and environmental educator with experience in long-term population monitoring. Having grown up in Carmel Valley, she has an intimate knowledge of the wildlife and people that live here, […]

Grazing as a Tool for California Grassland Conservation: SLC’s Eight-year Study Published in Journal of Applied Vegetation Science

Cattle graze in the foreground, Mesa study plot in the background on the right. Photo by Alix Soliman.  July 19, 2023 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator We’re thrilled to announce that the Santa Lucia Conservancy’s eight-year study of livestock grazing as a tool for conservation in California’s coastal grasslands has been published in Applied Vegetation Science. Grasslands cover […]

8 Summer Wildflowers Blooming in the Santa Lucia Range

July 10, 2023 By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate This spring and summer, we’ve been seeing an abundance of diverse native wildflowers blanketing our grassy hillsides, poking up out of rocky outcrops, and brightening our lowland meadows. After a wet winter, the seeds of drought-adapted plants that have laid dormant in the soil are springing to life once again.  When […]

The Central Coast’s Intimate Relationship with Fog

Dew collected by a spider web. Photo by Andrew Evans. January 7, 2022 By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate You may know that California is special for its unique climate and diverse range of habitats. The Mediterranean climate in the Central Coast Region, which is uncommon globally and characterized by wet winters and dry summers, is overlaid by cool fog [...]

8 Bird Species Found in California Grasslands

A juvenile grasshopper sparrow perches on a twig. Photo by Matt Davis / Macaulay Library.  By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator The grass is reaching up to our hips, catching the morning dew, and dripping it down our pant legs into soggy boots. It’s 6:30 a.m. on a cloudy morning in late May. Wildlife Biologist Mike Stake has set […]

10 Common Butterflies on The Santa Lucia Preserve

A Lorquin's Admiral butterfly, commonly mistaken for its look-alike, the California Sister. Public Domain Photo. July 18, 2022 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator As far as insects go, the Central Coast is most famous for the annual arrival of the Monarch butterfly from late November to December. Having migrated 1,000 miles or more (traveling 50-100 miles per day) [...]

How to Identify Poison Oak Throughout its Life Cycle

By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator Children recite “leaves of three, let it be,” but that’s not always specific enough, especially for those most susceptible to poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum). Since poison oak is a deciduous plant, it doesn’t always have leaves. As the seasons change, you’ll find both barren sticks and shiny new sprouts in various hues. The […]

California Clovers: Unsung Heroes of the Meadow

Featured Image: The rare Pacific Grove clover (Trifolium polyodon). Photo by Alix Soliman. By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate Clovers are the underdogs of wildflower world. Standing shorter than your hiking boots, often with small flowers, many wildflower lovers miss the stellar diversity of native clovers in California. The Preserve has 13 closely related native species, nine of which are […]

SLC Awarded State Coastal Conservancy Grant to Train Wildfire Workforce and Reduce Fuels

April 26, 2023 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator We’re thrilled to announce that the California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) awarded the Santa Lucia Conservancy a $752,510 grant, funded through the California Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program, to implement trainings that increase the region’s wildfire workforce, decrease fuels in high-risk transition areas, and support community […]

Spring Brings New Growth at The Conservancy

April 21, 2023 Please join us in welcoming new staff members to the SLC team! Breanna Rodgers, Restoration Manager Breanna leads restoration efforts on The Preserve, assists with biological monitoring, and manages fuel reduction and prescribed fire projects. Breanna earned her B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UC Santa Cruz, where she led forest ecology research crews to inventory […]

12 Spring Wildflower Species Blooming in the Santa Lucia Mountains

March 29, 2023 By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate  Having received more than 54 inches of rainfall on The Preserve so far this water year (from October 2022 to September 2023), we’ll be seeing an abundance and diversity of wildflowers not frequently seen on The Preserve. The seeds of drought-adapted native wildflowers have laid dormant in the soil, waiting for […]

California Condors Tracked Soaring Over The Preserve

. March 14, 2023 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a critically endangered species that can be spotted soaring in the skies above with outstretched “fingers” in Pinnacles National Park and along the cliffs of Big Sur on California’s Central Coast. In 1982, there were just 21 condors left in the wild, limited […]

Environmental Education Program Immerses Children in Nature

Children on the bridge over the Carmel River at Rancho Canada wave to their peers walking the river bed. Photo by Kirsten Stember. February 14, 2023 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator Since 1999, the Santa Lucia Conservancy has offered free field trips through our Environmental Education Program. Using a place-based, experiential learning approach, the program connects students in [...]

What Happened to California’s Beavers?

An American coot skittering on the vernal pool in the Chicken Flats, an ephemeral wetland that once expanded into the San Francisquito Flats when beavers were common.  Photo by Andrew Evans. January 17, 2023 By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate Every major river in California, except the Smith, is dammed… but no longer by beavers. Towering walls of concrete contain [...]

December 2022 Newsletter

Albino redwood on the Santa Lucia Preserve. Photo by Alix Soliman.  December 31, 2022 By Jamison Watts, Executive Director It is with pride and tremendous gratitude that we reflect on the impact we’ve made together in furthering SLC's mission to protect and steward the unique natural capital of the Santa Lucia Preserve while promoting environmentally sustainable communities. We have you — [...]

Six Years After the Soberanes Fire, How are Coast Redwood Forests Recovering?

Blackened redwoods stand among a cleared forest floor after the Soberanes Fire in 2016. Photo by Christy Wyckoff.  December 13, 2022 By Dr. Brian Woodward, Conservation Ecologist The Soberanes Fire burned over three months in 2016, starting in Los Padres National Forest and spreading north through Big Sur and into the southwest edge of the Santa Lucia Preserve. On The [...]

Managing Invasive Yellow Starthistle on The Santa Lucia Preserve

Conservancy staff hand-pull yellow starthistle. December 7, 2022 By Jackson Brooke, Restoration Manager Referred to as one of the most serious rangeland weeds in the state, yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) favors drought conditions and invades grassland, coastal prairie, and oak savanna habitats across California, opportunistically taking over heavily disturbed areas like roadsides and working lands. What makes it so invasive? [...]

How a Third La Niña Winter in a Row Could Impact Drought

The California Drought Monitor Report released November 17, 2022. Map Courtesy of Brad Rippey/Drought Monitor. November 22, 2022 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator We have experienced two consecutive La Niña winters and NOAA climate experts have announced another La Niña winter this year. Precipitation and temperature are influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases, comprised of El [...]