Winged Restoration Project to expand monarch habitat
by Suzanne GillCommunications and Outreach Coordinator While the monarch butterfly is among the most beloved wildlife species in the U.S., populations of both the Eastern and Western monarch have declined precipitously since the late 1990s. By 2019, the Western monarch population was estimated to have plummeted to just two percent of the total recorded 22 years earlier, in 1997. The […]
Mule Deer rutting season
October 24, 2023 by Emma Levy, Conservation Ecologist Mule deer find a very welcoming environment on the Santa Lucia Preserve. Discriminating foragers, they seek the most nutritious parts of a variety of plants (including berries and acorns), rather than large quantities of low-quality grasses and leaves. The Preserve’s large variety of vegetation in different habitat areas, combined with its limited human […]
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 […]
Biodiversity Journey on the Preserve
The Santa Lucia Preserve is a microcosm of the Central Coast Bioregion, located 5 miles inland from Monterey Bay and encompassing 20,000 acres of the northern Santa Lucia Range. The habitat diversity, its varying topography and natural features – from perennial streams to mountainous terrains – give rise to 12 different habitats. This StoryMap will take you on a journey through 8 of The Preserve’s dominant habitats.
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 […]
Prescribed Burn Planned for the Santa Lucia Preserve June 7-8
CCPBA participants work on mop-up at the 2022 Dairy Field Prescribed Burn. Photo by Alix Soliman. LAST UPDATED 5/30/2023 at 8:00 p.m. In collaboration with the Santa Lucia Conservancy, the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association (CCPBA) will be conducting a prescribed burn on The Preserve June 7 or 8 as part of the first California Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (Cal-TREX) […]
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 […]