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a Sonoma Land Trust stewardship blog

Mountains + Molehills focuses on the adventures of the Sonoma Land Trust stewardship crew, and the day-to-day challenges and blessings that they face. The daily schedule of each crew member may involve working with power shovels, connecting with landowners, hiking around the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor, building habitat for burrowing owls, avoiding skunks, trooping through poison oak, and so much more. Every day is an adventure, and we hope to share those adventures with you!

celebration

2/25/2016

1 Comment

 

by Ingrid Spetz

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​Last Saturday, we conducted the first of 12 field trips celebrating Sonoma Land Trust’s 40 years of land protection. Sonoma Valley program manager Tony Nelson and acquisition project manager John McCaull guided us as we explored several different properties throughout the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor. Attending as guests were members of Sonoma Land Trust, many of whom have been longtime volunteers and supporters of our work.
We began the day with a lovely visit to Anne Teller’s Oak Hill Farm, one of Sonoma Land Trust’s earliest conservation easements. Anne was a delightful host and charmed us with tales of the farm and land conservation. She offered coffee, oranges and flowers from the farm to take along with us. Tony pointed out features of the property to explain practices that help increase the permeability of the landscape for wildlife and help facilitate their passage.
 
Next, we took a walk through Sonoma Valley Regional Park, past the Curreri property — one of our most recent land transfers to expand the park — up to an overlook that gave us a great view of the Sonoma Developmental Center property. There, John spoke about Sonoma Land Trust’s involvement with the community planning project and efforts to ensure that the undeveloped portions ​remain that way.
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​​We enjoyed a delicious farm-to-table lunch from Earth’s Bounty Kitchen as we sat in the meadow alongside the creek at our Stuart Creek Run property. Tony shared stories about the removal of the longtime barriers that had prevented steelhead from returning to their native spawning grounds.
 
We ended the day with a drive up into the Mayacamas for a hike out to Secret Pasture, Sonoma Land Trust’s very first property. Secret Pasture was donated in 1978 by Otto Teller, one of Sonoma Land Trust’s original founders and late husband of Anne Teller. Here, Tony pointed out signs of porcupine activity, which was exciting to see because porcupines had been thought to have been extirpated from Sonoma County long ago. Our wildlife cameras recently captured a photo of one and Tony said the signs in the landscape were further evidence of their presence.
 
One of the real treats of the day was when we reached a meadow overlooking the entire Sonoma Valley, with open views all the way to San Pablo Bay and beyond. As we basked in the sunshine and reflected upon our 40 years of land conservation, we took a moment to appreciate and acknowledge the combined efforts of so many individuals over time with a vision to protect the landscapes of Sonoma County, and the incredible accomplishments that have come as a result for us and future generations. This truly was a celebration, and it was lovely to be able to take a moment and reflect over all that brought us to where we are today.
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Join us on one of our upcoming 40th Anniversary field trips as we explore the various regions of Sonoma County. A $50/year Sonoma Land Trust membership is required to attend.

Photos courtesy of Jonathan Taylor and Anne Goldmann.
1 Comment
Larry Broderick link
2/28/2016 10:26:08 pm

Just did Skaggs Island​ Raptor Tour with West County HawkWatch​ and Sonoma Land Trust​, we had a great day, Highlights were two Merlins, four Golden Eagles, a Great-horned Owl, plus a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Coopers Hawk, Northern Harriers, White-tailed Kites, American Kestrels, Red-tailed Hawks (plus some Turkey Vultures) making it a 10 Raptor species day! and we had many other bird species, plus two Coyotes... fun day thanks to all who came out! and a special thanks to the SLT outings team ....

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    Sonoma Land Trust is a local nonprofit based in Santa Rosa, CA, that conserves scenic, natural, agricultural and open lands in Sonoma County for the benefit of the community and future generations. This blog focuses on SLT's stewardship team, whose members do hands-on work to directly protect, restore, and safeguard the land for generations to come.

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