Slough Buzz
No. 126

  
Featuring...
Speak Up for the Slough
Holiday Gifts that Give Back
Moss Landing SB Dune Restoration
Leverage your Year-End Giving
Reserve Volunteer Naturalist Training
Sea Otters in Hand
Holiday Hours
Happy Holidays!
Find Out More
Join Our List
December 10, 2013

This is Slough Buzz, your email update from the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. We invite you to share this email with a friend by scrolling to the link at the bottom of this page.

 

Speak Up for the Elkhorn Slough Watershed:

Low areas are susceptible to flooding during extreme high tides and severe storms.


  

Please help make our community ready for disaster preparedness and emergency response by filling out a brief online survey. The Monterey County Office of Emergency Services needs your help identifying projects that can reduce the risk of injury and property damage from natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, and wildland fires.

 

As the partners working to conserve the slough, Elkhorn Slough Reserve and Foundation have identified several projects that will restore wildlife habitat while reducing property damage and injury.  For example:

 

  • Raising the low points of Elkhorn Road to reduce flood hazards while allowing more tidal exchange in the adjacent salt marsh;
  • Removing eucalyptus to reduce fire risk while restoring native oak woodlands.

 

Please consider these examples as you share your thoughts and experience with County decision makers.  Working together, we can help attract funding to get meaningful work done to protect our communities in the future. 

 

To complete the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/montereymitigation.  The survey deadline is January 31, 2014. 

 

For more information, visit www.co.monterey.ca.us/oes/hazard-mitigation.asp.

 

Great Holiday Gifts that Give Back!

 
The Reserve bookstore has something for everyone on your list.


 
Why get stressed and jostled at the mall?  Enjoy the tranquility of a visit to the slough, and support conservation and restoration while you shop for the holidays!

 

At the Reserve bookstore and gift shop, you can choose from a terrific selection of books--everything from natural history to photography, field guides to kids books--as well as unique apparel, handcrafted jewelry, and local art. (And, as always,

members of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation receive a 10% discount.) 

 

Shopping online?A Gift Membership to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation is a thoughtful way to share your passion for the slough.  And from now through January 15, 2014, every Gift Membership comes with a free 2014 Elkhorn Slough Calendar!

 

So share the beauty and wonder of the slough and help protect it at the same time!


Moss Landing State Beach Restoration 

Thousands of seedlings, including the mock heather (Ericameria ericoides) and beach sagewort (Artemisia pycnocephala) above, are being cultivated for Moss Landing State Beach habitat restoration.



  

Seedlings are sprouting at the Reserve greenhouse. We've propagated more than 10,000 plants (from seed collected by staff and volunteers this fall) in an effort to prevent dune erosion and restore habitat at Moss Landing State Beach, the place where Elkhorn Slough meets the Pacific. 

 

In partnership with California State Parks, the Foundation is working to provide habitat for native plants and wildlife (including the endangered Western snowy plover), reduce maintenance costs associated with drifting sands, and enhance the health, stability, and natural beauty of the dunes.

 

Through our restoration and outreach efforts, we're working to ensure this beach--which remains on the  list of potential park closures--will remain healthy and open to the public.

 

Plantings are planned for January and February.  If you're interested in volunteering to help restore Moss Landing State Beach, please contact Katie Pofahl, ESF Outreach Coordinator, at katie@elkhornslough.org or (831)728-5939.   

 

Leverage Your Year-End Giving... 

Act now and your dollars can go further toward helping restore and conserve the Elkhorn Slough watershed.



  

Double Your Gift through MCGives!

 

Now through midnight on December 31, the Monterey County Weekly is supporting the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and other local non-profits through its MCGives! Campaign . Every donation you make through MCGives! goes a bit further, because a portion of each gift is matched by the Weekly. Last year this resulted in a bonus contribution of 15 cents for every dollar donated. 

 

Act now and your gift also will be doubled by a generous $10,000 matching grant from Sea Mist Farms & Boutonnet Farms.  That means your gift will be doubled, and matched with an additional bonus from MCGives. Talk about getting a bang for your buck!

 

 

Gifts of Stock and IRA Charitable Rollovers

But wait...there are even more ways to support conservation and restoration of the slough. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation welcomes stock donations, which can provide significant tax advantages for you, too.

 

But wait there's more...the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, passed by Congress on January 1, 2013, renews special incentives to make charitable gifts to nonprofit organizations.  If you are 70½ or older, you can make tax-free charitable gifts from your Individual Retirement Account through the end of 2013.

As with previous IRA charitable rollover legislation, contributions need to be made directly from your IRA administrator to Elkhorn Slough Foundation. The transferred amount counts toward your required minimum distribution and is excluded from your taxable income.

 

If you are interested in contributing stock or making a tax-free IRA gift, our development staff will be happy to provide you with the information you will need to make the transfer. Contact us by email at slough.support@elkhornslough.org or by phone at (831)728-5939.

 

Reserve Volunteer Naturalist Training Class 2014 

Everyone is welcome! January 11 & 18, 9:30am - 4pm 
Join the Reserve's volunteer team and share the natural wonders of Elkhorn Slough


  

Everyone is welcome! Discover the wonders of Elkhorn Slough Reserve and learn how to share these wonders with others. Naturalist training class topics include: ecology, biology, current and past research at the Reserve, ongoing Reserve projects, cultural histories, interpretation skills, communication techniques, trail mechanics and educational activities.

Get involved with your community and discover a treasure right here in your Monterey Bay backyard!

New Volunteer Orientation for all:
Saturday, January 11 & 18, 9:30am - 4pm

Applications are online at www.elkhornslough.org/volunteer or contact Amanda Ankenbrandt, Reserve Volunteer Coordinator, for more information at (831)728-2822 or Amanda.Ankenbrandt@wildlife.ca.gov.

Sea Otters in the Palm of Your Hand!
Otter Cam on Smart Phone
Now you can watch the Elkhorn Slough Otter Cam on most mobile devices


  
The Elkhorn Slough Otter Cam can now be viewed on most mobile devices!  This is the first live-streaming camera to monitor Southern sea otters in the wild.  Now you can bring the slough's sea otters with you wherever you go!

 

The Otter Cam, launched in partnership with Friends of the Sea Otter, streams live video from the tidal salt marshes of the Elkhorn Slough to the Web, offering online visitors a sneak peek at the lives of sea otters in the estuary and providing information for researchers who are studying otter behaviors.

 

See for yourself at www.elkhornslough.org/ottercam!


Holiday Hours at the Reserve

The Reserve is closed on Christmas Day, but ring in the New Year with a visit!



The Reserve will be closed on Christmas Day but will be open on New Year's Day. (Regular hours for the Reserve and Visitor Center are Wednesday - Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The Reserve is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.)  Happy Holidays! 

 

Happy Holidays!

Seasons greetings from Elkhorn Slough!


  

From all of us at Elkhorn Slough to you, thank you for your support during the past year.  Your contributions have enabled the restoration of critical habitat, groundbreaking research, outreach and education programs, and the ongoing stewardship of more than 5,200 acres within the Elkhorn Slough watershed.  We couldn't do it without you!

 

We wish you happiness, health, peace, and prosperity this holiday season and throughout the New Year! 

 
The Elkhorn Slough Foundation is a nonprofit, community-supported organization working to conserve and restore Elkhorn Slough and its watershed. The Foundation works with local, state and national constituencies to protect our natural heritage.

ESF logo

Elkhorn Slough Foundation
Phone: (831) 728-5939