You might be surprised to learn that your opportunity to volunteer in California could change dramatically. An important exemption to California's prevailing wage law is in danger of lapsing this year. This exemption gives you the right to donate your time, and if it disappears, organizations will be required to pay their volunteers minimum wage--even if volunteers want to continue to help for free.

If you want to continue to volunteer for places like the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, or if you support the right to donate time to benefit a cause, there is something you can do to help. Assembly Bill 587, carried by Assembly Member Rich Gordon, extends the exemption to the prevailing wage law through 2017. You can voice your support for AB 587 by writing to Assembly Member Gordon or your own Assembly Member stating your support of the exemption.

We depend on the support and help of so many volunteers. We are honored that so many choose to give their time to help preserve our watershed. But, without the exemption it would be a challenge for us to accept help. The vote to pass this bill is April 13th, so send your support for this bill today.

Time is running out to sign up for the Frog Safari, but there is still room! Join us to learn the ins and outs of amphibian behavior from our Freshwater Ecologist. This will be a fun evening walk on the Reserve and you learn some tricks to finding salamanders, turtles, toads and more.

This exclusive event is open to Stewardship Circle, Conservation Circle, and Land Partner members only. Please RSVP by calling Quinn at (831) 725-5939 x240 or signing up on our website. There is still time to contact Lorili or Quinn to upgrade your membership level to attend this event.

April 20th we will host our Spring Sunset Walk for new members. This is the perfect time to see our Blohm property in its full splendor and enjoy the beautiful spring weather with fellow members. Learn a bit of the history behind the land we care for and the work we do with the breathtaking view of our protected lands as a backdrop.

This exclusive event is open to members who joined after May 2010. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP by calling Quinn at (831) 725-5939 x240 or by signing up on our website.

One of the founding members of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation has joined the ranks of Walt Disney and Ansel Adams. Diane Porter Cooley and her husband Don Cooley were honored with the title of "Honorary California State Park Ranger." Although it is unusual for two people to be nominated for this award, the California State Park Rangers Association was in agreement that Mr. and Mrs. Cooley are "special examples of what can be accomplished when valuing resource conservation, philanthropy, public service, and stewardship."

The Cooleys have worked closely with the Elkhorn Slough Foundation over the years, giving their support to our mission. Diane donated her family ranch, the Porter Ranch, to The Nature Conservancy. The Foundation manages this land, which includes a beautiful home and English garden, cattle grazing pastures, and old growth oak woodlands. We are grateful for their generosity.

They're zipping around the sky like tiny stunt pilots, patching their nests and happily singing. It is hard to miss the fact: the swallows have returned to Elkhorn Slough! You can see their muddy nests under the roof of the Visitor Center and in bird boxes around the Reserve. And the birds themselves are easy to identify--you can't miss their forked tail feathers.

Swallows are a pleasure to see in the sky--these amazing fliers dart about to impress potential mates and nonchalantly pause to eat an insect mid-flight. But they aren't just showy birds--they also make carefully constructed nests of mud to house their eggs.

And if you are wondering whether our swallows are cliff swallows or barn swallows wonder no more: they're cliff swallows. While the two look similar, cliff swallows make nests that have a tunnel-like opening while barn swallows make nests that are open on top, like a bowl.

The swallows are bustling with activity as they go about their spring cleaning, so now is the perfect time to visit the Reserve and see them.

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