News
October 4, 2021

Conservancy Newsletter September 2021

Teri G. submitted this black bear photo to the Conservancy on behalf of Bruce Dormody. It was spotted at neighboring San Clemente Rancho. There was another sighting along Rancho San Carlos Road. While we're having a much quieter bear season compared to last year (when bears were getting into trash cans and gardens), it is important to be mindful that [...]
1 min read
September 15, 2021

SLC Places Climate Change Adaptation at the Fore, Promotes From Within

Restoring grasslands and oak savannas across The Santa Lucia Preserve is a crucial component of the Conservancy's wildfire and climate change resilience efforts. Photo by Bill Guion. September 15, 2021 By Jamison Watts, Executive Director The Santa Lucia Conservancy remains steadfast in its mission to protect and steward the unique natural and aesthetic resources of the Santa Lucia Preserve while [...]
2 min read
August 31, 2021

Before & After: Eradicating Pesky French Broom in 8 Photos

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, [...]
5 min read
August 25, 2021

SLC’s Restructured Stewardship Program Emphasizes Partnership

The Conservancy's new Stewardship Associate Izaac Tompkins and Stewardship Manager Andrew Nguyen monitor a new construction site on The Preserve. Photo by Alix Soliman. August 26, 2021 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator Over the past few months, the Conservancy has restructured its Stewardship Program to better serve The Preserve community and safeguard the protected values of 8,000 acres [...]
2 min read
August 24, 2021

Field Notes: Reflections on Grassland Restoration

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 [...]
2 min read
August 16, 2021

4 Environmentally Conscious Ways to Kill Invasive Plants

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 [...]
7 min read
August 6, 2021

8 Things You Can Do on Your Openlands

Photo by Adam White. Ramona Bohlander sets up a wildlife camera on her property to help the Conservancy track the movements of our wild neighbors. August 6, 2021 By Izaac Tompkins, Stewardship Associate Each of the 296 residential lots on the Santa Lucia Preserve has two zones, a Homeland and an Openland. While the Homelands are basically building envelopes zoned [...]
5 min read
July 21, 2021

Outdoor Education During the Pandemic: Expanding Our Virtual Horizons

Plaster casts of a bobcat track made in the Conservancy's mammal class. July 21, 2021 By Julie Sigourney, Conservancy Educator 2020 was a year of disruption, challenge and accomplishment for the Santa Lucia Conservancy’s Outdoor Education Program. The pandemic caused the sudden shut down of our live nature walks. Our last in-person class was on March 13, 2020 with a [...]
4 min read
July 15, 2021

Can The Santa Lucia Preserve Become One of the First Rodenticide-free Communities in the Country?

A happy IPM customer holding a California mouse after adopting non-toxic rodent control. Photo by Rodrigo Sierra Corona July 27, 2021 By Sabine Cudney, Wildlife Technician Summary Rodenticides, poison baits used to kill rodents, threaten to upend natural predator-prey cycles by poisoning entire food-chains. Their negative impacts on wildlife have been widely documented in California, where studies have found rodenticide [...]
6 min read
June 30, 2021

The Conservancy Welcomes New Board Members, Thanks Outgoing Members

Photo by Adam White June 30, 2021 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator The Santa Lucia Conservancy Board of Trustees convened earlier this month to bid farewell to distinguished members Ron Eastman, Jeff Langholz, Sue Sirkus, and Terry Watt, who provided tremendous direction and vision to the organization’s mission to steward The Preserve’s natural landscape for the benefit of [...]
5 min read
June 24, 2021

The Plight of the Nomadic Tricolored Blackbird and its Life on The Preserve

Photo by Dr. Christy Wyckoff. A male tricolored blackbird perched in tall grasses. June 24, 2021 By Alicia Khuon, Field Technician They “darken the sky for some distance with their masses” wrote an observer in 1853 about tricolored blackbirds (Agelaius tricolor). Unfortunately, this is no longer true. The tricolored blackbird has been listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species [...]
4 min read
June 17, 2021

Wildfire Resilience and Our New Fuel Management Plan Initiative

Lindsay Cope and Jenna Allred hold a fire hose at a fire safety training for Conservancy staff. June 17, 2021 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator Learning how to live with wildfire is one of the great challenges of our era and region. We must begin by accepting the fact that fire is an integral part of our ecosystem’s [...]
3 min read
December 11, 2020

Conservancy News | December 2020

The Conservancy is pleased to share its fourth and final newsletter of 2020! In this issue, we feature updates about fuel management on The Preserve, highlights from our stewardship programs, and a joint letter from our new Executive Director, Jamison Watts, and our Deputy Director, Christy Wyckoff. Click here to read the full newsletter!
17 sec read
December 9, 2020

Roads of The Preserve: More than Meets the Eye

Driving on The Preserve is part of the experience of conservation living, whether you get behind the wheel for the joy of the drive or simply to travel from one place to the next. This paved element of the landscape was quite literally designed from the ground up with roads that enhance the cadence of the community and encourage a [...]
3 min read
December 9, 2020

Demystifying Fuel Management on The Santa Lucia Preserve

No doubt, there is a learning curve to the rural lifestyle of The Preserve. This conservation experiment has many mechanisms built in to foster deeper appreciation and thoughtful care of the land. Fuel Management is one of the more bewildering topics, for many reasons. First, no one would deny that wildfire is scary; it is powerful and destructive, but with [...]
2 min read
October 2, 2020

Conservancy News | October 2020

The Conservancy is pleased to share its third newsletter of 2020 featuring stories with new members on The Preserve, updates on our research and stewardship activities, and wildlife sightings over the past few months – including a black bear! Click here to read the full newsletter.
19 sec read
September 2, 2020

The Magic of the Mesa: A Conservation Story of Cattle and Coyote Brush

The Carmel Valley holds a special place in my heart. With family ties in the Monterey Peninsula, I visited the area frequently as a child and for years heard whispers of the magic on The Santa Lucia Preserve. In February 2020, I joined the Conservancy’s second annual seasonal field crew and at last had the privilege to visit The Preserve. [...]
3 min read
June 24, 2020

Sustainable Fuel Management on the Santa Lucia Preserve

On a mild summer day in July 2016, several of my colleagues at the Santa Lucia Conservancy and I stood knee-deep in a lovely coastal grassland, looking west across towering redwoods dwarfed by a dense column of smoke rising thousands of feet into the air. The wind was calm, and although the smoke had not yet shrouded the sun, a [...]
4 min read
June 1, 2020

Calving Season on The Preserve

As Thoreau astutely observed, spring arrives with imperceptible first steps. Now, spring is waning, having been lauded by the glowing hillsides of lupines and the gentle bows of the California poppies. And as you have likely both seen and heard, the coming of spring brings not only blooms, but life in all forms. With this vivacious wave, too, comes the [...]
4 min read
June 1, 2020

The Santa Lucia Conservancy Expands Regional Fire Prevention Press Release

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   THE SANTA LUCIA CONSERVANCY EXPANDS REGIONAL FIRE PREVENTION The non-profit, recognized as leader in regional fire planning and prevention, is awarded $2 million across three grants CARMEL, Calif. – The Santa Lucia Conservancy is expanding its cutting-edge role in regional fire planning and suppression. Money from three federal and state grants will support a variety [...]
4 min read
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