In the world of land stewardship, sometimes things just come together. It seems rare, but it happens on occasion. Those times deserve to be celebrated! Last summer, we had a great example of likeminded people “connecting the dots” to result in a fantastic, ecologically-beneficial outcome.
Nadia Hamey is the lead forester and property manager of San Vicente Redwoods. She’s at the center of our stewardship work for the property and her local knowledge continues to prove invaluable to our success. Photo: Teddy Miller
At our 8,532-acre San Vicente Redwoods property, we have an issue with the non-native and invasive Coulter pine. This tree was planted in the higher elevations on the property several decades ago and has spread aggressively among the native plant communities that also occupy those areas.
Among other things, the presence of Coulter pine alters the light dynamics of the forest and can create difficulties for the viability of rare endemic plants, such as the Santa Cruz manzanita (Arctostaphylos andersonii).
When PG&E asked for our input in developing a mitigation project associated with a right-of-way that traverses the property, Coulter pine sprang to mind. At no cost to POST, we had an opportunity to make some progress to curtail the invasion, and that was something we wanted to take advantage of. Better yet, after the trees were felled and bucked, their contractor was willing to chip the material and transport it offsite.
Some thirty miles away, our partners at the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County were developing a bioreactor at the Watsonville Sough Farm (which POST helped to protect back in 2009, by the way). The purpose of the bioreactor is to clean water flowing off of agricultural lands that are adjacent to wetlands and the Pajaro River estuary.
As it so happened, the same contractor who was working on the Coulter pine removal at San Vicente Redwoods was working on the bioreactor project, and the chipped material was ideal for use in that project. Once the material was chipped at our site near Bonny Doon, it was hauled down to Watsonville and added to the bioreactor.
Coulter pine were “shading out” many native plants. With them removed, native plants like the rare Horkelia marinensis are already bouncing back. Photo: Neal Sharma.
Talk about a win-win!
One of the definitive aspects of managing San Vicente Redwoods is that of partnership. POST co-owns the property with Sempervirens Fund. We actively manage the property in collaboration with Save the Redwoods League. We are planning for public access with the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. At the center of it all is a fantastic forester and property manager — Nadia Hamey (picture above).
Among other things, our collaborative spirit allows us to leverage the support of our amazing donors and make a lot of good work happen out there on the land.
Want to learn more about our work at San Vicente Redwoods? We recommend you start at the beginning (click here) and hear the history of logging on this land.
Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) protects open space on the Peninsula and in the South Bay for the benefit of all. Since its founding in 1977, POST has been responsible for saving more than 87,000 acres as permanently protected land in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Learn more
