Friends and relatives visiting for the holidays? Come on by and share with them the beauty of Elkhorn Slough. The Reserve will be open its regular hours Wednesday through Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm with these exceptions.

• Dec 24 - Christmas Eve, Close EARLY- 3 pm
• Dec 25 - Christmas Day, CLOSED
• Dec 31 - New Years Eve, Close EARLY - 3 pm
• Jan 1 - New Years Day, OPEN

We want to wish everyone a safe and joyous holiday season. We appreciate your generosity throughout the year and could not accomplish our successes without your support. We hope to see you at the slough in 2011.

What do you get the conservationist that has everything? The gift of Elkhorn Slough, of course!

This December, when you make a donation of $25 or more to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation in the name of your favorite conservationist, we will send them a copy of our 2011 calendar and a note to let them know of your generosity. What better gift than to honor someone special by supporting the foundation's work to conserve and restore the Elkhorn Slough and its watershed? It's a wonderful way to share the beauty of Elkhorn Slough with friends that care about our environment.

If you would like to provide them with a gift that allows them to be even more involved in our work and our fun, give them an Elkhorn Slough Foundation Gift Membership. Gift memberships start as low as $35 and include invitations to special member walks (including two sunset walks just for our new members), a subscription to our Tidal Exchange newsletter, and a 10% discount in the Elkhorn Slough bookstore located on the Reserve. And all gift memberships given in December will include our 2011 calendar!

Giving in the name of your favorite environmentalist will allow you to provide them with the perfect green gift. It also provides you with a charitable tax-deduction - a little gift for yourself.

If you have picked up a paper lately you know the construction of the Parsons Slough sill is underway. This is the result of years of work from the Tidal Wetland Project: a structure to slow the tidal scouring that has caused significant loss of marsh in the slough for more than fifty years. The erosion caused by tidal scouring has a devastating impact on the marine life in the slough; the underwater sill that is now being built will slow down the force of the outgoing tide, reducing scour and allowing sediment to settle and build up the marsh habitat so many animals in the slough depend on.

This is an exciting project, and we anticipate it having a very positive impact on the slough. We want everyone to know of this effort so we've been sure to inform the media of our action. And the project has received some good coverage-check out some recent stories:

• See the clip aired on KION
• Read about the sill in the Santa Cruz Sentinel
• The project was also covered in the San Francisco Chronicle

Of course, one of the biggest concerns when undertaking a construction project in the slough is making sure we are not disturbing the marine life that calls the slough home-in fact several of the permits obtained for the project outline specific guidelines to protect these animals. The Tidal Wetland Project has implemented an extensive monitoring program to meet these guidelines, which has not only provided part-time employment for 11 people, but also helps ensure the sea otters and harbor seals meet no harm.

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation also accepts gifts of stocks. We work with Wells Fargo Investments to process the stock. If you are interested in donating stock to Elkhorn Slough please contact Bruce Harr or Kirsten Miller at 877-368-4883 with the following information

Number of shares
Name of stock
Symbol or 9-digit CUSIP
Receiving Firm Clearing #: 0733
Receiving Account Name and #: Elkhorn Slough Foundation, 3400-0745

This information will allow them to process your stock donation to us. We appreciate you generosity.

May the new year bring you join, happiness, and many visits to this magnificent place we know as Elkhorn Slough

From

Your friends at Elkhorn Slough Foundation and Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve