Kim Hayes shows two Peacock Acres youths a rare succulent plant growing in the watershed.

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation recently provided a tour of our conserved Blohm property to eight foster youths enrolled in the Peacock Acres Learning Center on a walk on our Blohm property. Peacock Acres has been providing residential care for the foster youths of Monterey County since 1980, and recently they opened The Learning Center (TLC) to help children succeed in school with the support of mentors, tutors and an engaging environment.

ESF Stewardship Director Kim Hayes personally led the TLC group on one of staff's favorite hikes - a ridge top that overlooks the slough and Watsonville. The view of the watershed from this vantage point was a wonderful real-world component to the week of environment- and conservation-focused curriculum provided by TLC. The group also learned about organic farms and pesticides, endangered species, wildlife behavior and the ways plants and animals interact. The walk also showed the children some of the beauty that is in their own backyard, including maritime chaparral and coastal live oak woodlands habitat.

Sharing this amazing place with future generations is one of the reasons the Elkhorn Slough Foundation exists. It is an excellent day when we can do just that and provide a bit of education and outdoor experience for such a wonderful group. We hope to do it again soon! Thank you Peacock Acres for allowing us to share the Elkhorn Slough with you.

From microscopic life to great swaths of rare habitat, this scholarship will introduce students to the thrills of coastal science.

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation and Camp SEA Lab will award aspiring scientists a scholarship, which will help them explore the Elkhorn Slough this summer.

Twelve students, aged 8-11, will receive a full scholarship to Camp SEA Lab to study rare habitat in Elkhorn Slough by foot and by kayak, obtaining an introduction to important marine concepts while involving them in coastal stewardship and helping the students build self-confidence and relationships with their peers.

Elkhorn Slough Foundation established this scholarship to honor the contributions of Les Strnad to science education and wetland conservation in Monterey County. Mr. Strnad co-founded Camp SEA Lab and pioneered the establishment of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. There seemed no more fitting way to honor Mr. Strand than by introducing a new generation of environmental stewards to the mosaic of life that is the Elkhorn Slough.

With mortgage rates at all time lows many people are buying new homes or refinancing. Some financial institutions are offering a unique incentive to gain your mortgage business - a donation to the charity of your choice. If you are in the process of obtaining a mortgage, please ask if your lender is offering such a program. Why not have your property help conserve the Elkhorn Slough?

You usually hear people say they want to give 100%, or even 110%. But when it comes to donations, we would love to see everyone give 1% ... 1% For the Planet. This program (www.onepercentfortheplanet.org) encourages businesses to give back to the environment by donating 1% of their revenue to a charity like the Elkhorn Slough Foundation.

Our most recent "1% For the Planet" gift came from Nuu-Muu's Ashley Fullenwider. We asked Ashley why she choose to have Nuu-Muu support ESF through their 1% For the Planet commitment. Here's what she told us:

"I'm a native Californian and my grandmother grew up in Watsonville and lived her life along the Monterey Bay: Watsonville, Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley. I spent MANY a morning in your slough, finding sand dollars, looking for critters large and small, getting sandy. Great memories! Now as a business owner, I am happy to bring that same energy and appreciation of nature to Nuu-Muu. Nuu-Muu manufactures exercise dresses with the sole purpose of helping women and girls feel sassy, powerful and happy as they take to life's adventures. Our dresses are great for hiking, biking, running, water sports, tennis, travel - they cover up and show off and make getting dressed just a bit more fun."

Nuu-Muu's generosity doesn't stop there! They are offering $10 off any purchase to Elkhorn Slough supporters that uses the coupon code ELKHORN on their website www.nuu-muu.com. Thanks Nuu-Muu and Ashley for doing your share to take care of the planet.

Your photographs could be in the Elkhorn Slough 2013 calendar!

For the past three years the Elkhorn Slough Foundation has held a contest to create a beautiful calendar of images photographed by and of our community. Visitors of all ages and from all over the world come to explore the Elkhorn Slough. The photos taken by these nature enthusiasts tell more about this place than we could ever write.

If you have a photo of the beauty, wildlife, fauna and flora within the Elkhorn Slough watershed you'd like to share with the world, send it to us! Our goal for the calendar is to show the diversity that exists within the watershed - photos of the slough itself or the stunning oak woodlands that creep up the hillside, photos of otters, birds, butterflies, and amphibians, or photos of people having fun against the backdrop of this amazing environment. Ideally the photo has been taken within the past two years and at a resolution of 300dpi (this is for print quality purposes).

Unfortunately low resolution photos can't be considered for the contest, but we are happy to accept them in our monthly photo contest. June's winning photo (above) is by Christian Dupont, who took it while visiting from the UK as part of a six-month round-the-world trip.

We love your photos and can't wait to see them. The calendar contest submission deadline is October 1st, so bring your cameras on your next slough outing, and send in you favorite photos of the slough today!

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