This Valentine's Day we want to show Congress there is lots of love for estuaries and that funding cuts break our heart. The Elkhorn Slough is joining NERRs from all over the nation in celebrating Valentine's Day with an "I Heart Estuaries" campaign February 12-14.

We're asking all of you who love Elkhorn Slough to email the local offices of Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein and Representative Sam Farr, telling them why you love the Elkhorn Slough Reserve and asking them to maintain federal funding for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System.

Please join fans of research reserves around the country February 12-14 by telling your local representatives why YOU love Elkhorn Slough. We've drafted a template email on our website that you can send as-is or edit for a more personal touch.

If you want to tweet your representatives too, use the hashtag: #iheartestuaries

Name Change for DFG

The Department of Fish and Game is now known as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The agency's new name is part of ongoing efforts to promote the department's mission of serving as an independent, science-based entity that focuses on managing entire ecosystems, not just individual species.

Along with the name change, an environmental task force and a science institute has been introduced, which will provide independent scientific review, advice and recommendations to help inform CDFW's work. Although the name is changing, the Department is not planning to replace any signs, uniforms, or other insignia until they wear out and become unusable. Expanding its mission while keeping costs low-it's a perfect example of why we respect our partners at the CDFW.

This shell necklace is covered with oysters and other invertebrate life.

Last summer Elkhorn Slough Reserve and Foundation staff, interns, and volunteers made large shell "necklaces" from gaper clam shells collected at beaches near the mouth of the estuary, where they are abundant because of sea otter foraging. Perhaps you've seen these necklaces while walking the Reserve's trails and wondered... just what are those things?

They're restoration in action.

The shells provide the hard surface that oysters need in order to find a place to settle and grow. Shell necklaces help create oyster reefs, a key marine habitat. By creating and deploying these strings of shells on the mudflats of Elkhorn Slough, ESNERR researchers are hoping to coax endangered Olympia oyster populations back from the brink - and it seems to be working.

Keep reading on our website

Parsons Slough, photo by Keith Ellenbogen

The Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Project (TWP) brings together more than 100 stakeholders and scientists to collaborate on strategic oversight and management of the Elkhorn Slough estuary. Over the past seven years, one focus of TWP has been to evaluate options for addressing problems of erosion and habitat loss in the Elkhorn Slough.

After extensive evaluations, TWP has concluded there are a variety of small to medium sized restoration projects that should be put into effect during the coming decade rather than attempting a single large-scale project to change the flow of water at the mouth of the estuary. Some of the recommended projects include adding sediment to restore sunken marshes and increasing the exchange of water to reduce excessive nitrogen (and the unhealthy water that can be associated with it) in parts of the estuary.

The Tidal Wetland Project also recommends more collaborative, science-based decision-making for the estuary (for instance by having multiple resource managers work together on shared goals). Want to learn more about the specific alternatives considered or TWP's current recommendations? The information is available for download here.

We sadly say farewell to three people who played key roles in the conservation and program development in Elkhorn Slough.

Jud Vandevere of Monterey died December 25th at the age of 88. Jud was best known for his work on the ecology and conservation of sea otters. He was a conservationist to the core and a member of the original committee that built a trail on the west side of Elkhorn Slough. Congressman Sam Farr said of him "He was one of the pioneering environmentalists on the Monterey Peninsula."

Iris Rodgers passed away January 1st at the age of 99 years. She and her late husband, Dr. Arthur Rodgers, were Watsonville natives and deeply engaged in their community. The two were early supporters of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and were among the families that established an endowment fund for Elkhorn Slough Conservation.

Melanie Mayer Gideon passed away January 8th at the age of 52. Melanie grew up in the Elkhorn watershed, and studied the slough's tidal marshes for her graduate degree at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. She was one of the first employees of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and helped develop the first school curriculum for the slough before going on to become a Supervising Naturalist for the California Department of Fish and Game, then later establishing the Slough Safari Tour Company and the Captain's Inn Bed and Breakfast in Moss Landing with her husband Yohn.

These pioneers will be missed, and their legacy lives on in those they inspired.