skip navigation

Coastside Bugs with Dr. Stephanie Dole- Free Community Webinar Recording

Enjoy this Coastside Land Trust webinar recording, as we welcome Dr. Stephanie Dole (The Beetlelady) to present about the biodiversity, ecological roles, and the importance of our local bugs, as well as how they are connected to the greater world. Dr. Dole is an eminent scientist who delights learners of all ages with her knowledge, curiosity, and enthusiasm. She has traveled around the globe to conduct her research, and has been educating the public about insects since 1997.

Learn more about Dr. Stephanie Dole at www.beetlelady.com. Here you can learn more about upcoming events, view past virtual talks, and ask your entomological questions.

Donate to support the Coastside Land Trust free webinar programs and the protection and stewardship of our shared open spaces.

Donate Today

Coastside Gives- Early Giving

Please help the Coastside Land Trust meet our $50,000 goal to fully fund our Junior Land Stewards Program for academic year 2023-24. We are fortunate to have received a 50% match of $25,000 from dedicated supporters. Please help us reach this match and meet our goal. The Junior Land Stewards Program connects the students of the Cabrillo Unified School District with their local open spaces, and guides them in developing the environmental literacy skills and desire to become lifelong stewards of open space.

Please help Coastside Land Trust fund this program by donating at Coastside Gives to fund this program and help preserve the lands you love with double impact.

Donate to Support

Coastside Bugs Free Community Webinar

Coastside Bugs with Dr. Stephanie Dole

Free Community Webinar

Saturday, March 11, 2023

10:00am

Join the Coastside Land Trust as we welcome Dr. Stephanie Dole to present about the biodiversity, ecological roles, and the importance of our local insects, as well as how they are connected to the greater world. Dr. Dole is an eminent scientist who delights learners of all ages with her knowledge, curiosity, and enthusiasm. She has traveled far and wide to conduct her research, and has been educating the public about insects since 1997.

Register here

Junior Land Stewards Planting

After many months growing their indigenous plants from seed, the Junior Land Stewards took to the field to plant their seedlings into the open space near each of their respective schools. The fourth graders did all of this under the guidance of the Half Moon Bay High School Science field guides. Although the fields were very wet and muddy, the students persevered and got all of their plants into the ground. Students will return later in the school year to tend to their plots and observe the changes.

Please donate to support the Junior Land Stewards Program and the critical protection and stewardship of our shared open space land.

DOnate

Thank you to the Wavecrest work day volunteers

Thank you to the dedicated crew of volunteers who made for another successful Wavecrest work day yesterday! These volunteers removed a great amount of teasel, bristly ox-tongue, cape ivy, and mustard. This will allow for the indigenous grasses of the area (such as the rushes) to grow and expand. Our youngest volunteers also ducked between these plants and bushes to remove many buckets full of trash.

If you were not able to make this work day event please keep an eye out for the next one. It is a wonderful way to do good work, while sharing time outside with good people.

Please donate to preserve and help us to steward the shared open space lands that we all value…

donate

Join us for a Wavecrest Work Day this Saturday

Wavecrest Workday 
February 11
10:00 am – Noon

Join us this weekend on the coastal prairie for a habitat restoration workday at Wavecrest Open Space. Come one, come all! There is much work to be done, and people of all ages are welcome and encouraged. Meet at the Smith Field Ballparks at the west end of Wavecrest Road in Half Moon Bay. Wear boots and good outer layers, as it might be a bit wet. We have the gloves, tools, and snacks. Under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

[Directions to Wavecrest Road]

2022 in Review

2022 was a year of program growth, expanding educational outreach, and a great returning to the field (in our stewardship and monitoring, as well as work days and field events). There is much to be grateful for in this past year, and we are thankful to all our or loyal donors and supporters who make the important work of the Coastside Land Trust possible. Here are a few of our successes and highlights from 2022…

stewardship and monitoring

The Stewardship Advisory Committee took to the field to conduct biological and other environmental monitoring of all of our properties and conservation easements, documenting and reporting the recent changes in this open space land. They also worked to remove invasive plants and saplings to maintain and support the health of the coastal prairie. Several members of this stewardship team also supported and worked alongside our youngest stewards within the Junior Land Stewards program.


In-person events are back

We have returned to in-person public events. This year these included a raptor walk with Sequoia Audubon Society, several work days, and a Coastal Trail expansion informational event. Thank you to all of the volunteers who have shown up to help on our Wavecrest work days. A big shout out to Sara Polgar and our Stewardship Advisory Committee for organizing the work days, and to the dedicated volunteers and members of our excellent CLT board who came out to tend to our shared open spaces.

Junior land stewards program

This year has been one of significant growth for the Junior Land Stewards Program, under the direction of Haley Peterson. This program is dedicated to connecting students of the Cabrillo Unified School District (CUSD) with their local open spaces, guiding them in developing the environmental literacy skills and desire to become life-long stewards of open space. Fourth graders of Alvin Hatch, El Granada, and Farallone View elementary schools participated in weekly nature journaling and lab work in their classrooms. They learned about the local plants and animals, as well as about soil health, and the earth’s systems. Students took multiple field trips to their local open spaces to observe, learn, and ultimately prepare and plant their own indigenous pollinator gardens. Half Moon Bay high school science students were trained as guides for the the field portion of this program. These high school students also trained in nature journaling. They traveled to Wavecrest open space in one of their training sessions to learn about what lives and and grows there, as well as the history of this area. The CUSD fourth grade teachers also took part in a multi-week nature journaling workshop, run by natural and cultural resource interpreter, Elexis Padron.

coastal trail extension

We have begun phase two of the Coastal Trail Extension. Many thanks to those who donated to this trail extension in honor of Ryan Popple, as well as other donors who are passionate about this shared open space trail that will be accessible for all. This project will feature stairs down to the beach and a small bathroom and trash facility. Check out this video to see what you can expect…


community webinars

Our free community webinar series has continued providing an opportunity for all to share in the learning of our local environment. Local botanist and author, Toni Corelli, explored the history of botanical exploration along the San Mateo coast, as well as our local wetland plants. International bird guide, Alvaro Jaramillo, returned by popular demand to teach about birds of the San Mateo coast. Grey Hayes presented about the life, history, health, and management techniques of the coastal prairie. Sarah Caso and Dr. Gordon Frankie of the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab shared about native bees and their efforts to support population growth. Stephanie Frischie, of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation also discussed the ecology of soil health and management strategies to increase beneficial microbial populations.

goats on the move

In June the large herd of over 200 restoration goats came from Star Creek Land Stewards, working with the Coastside Land Trust and the City of Half Moon Bay as a part of a planned grazing project. These goats are effective at eating fire fuel, aerating the soil, fertilizing the ground, and encouraging the growth of native plant species. This results in a reduction in wildfire danger, improved soil fertility, and an increase in the diversity of native perennial grasses. This process is also good for the environment, as it doesn't require petroleum products or chemicals of any kind.


abundant grace

The Coastside Land Trust wishes to share our gratitude for the Abundant Grace Coastside Worker program. Abundant Grace engages people experiencing homelessness, and these workers have been cleaning our coastal trail. Their monthly Wavecrest cleanups have removed thousands of pounds of trash from our shared open spaces.

land aquisition

It was year of steady growth in land acquisitions and easements. Check out this map comparing CLT properties and easements in 2008 vs 2022.

2022 Map

2008 Map


TRANSITIONS

This year we said goodbye to founder and longtime board member, Mike Kimsey. With tremendous gratitude for his tireless commitment to open space over all these year, we wish him well in his retirement.

Mike Kimsey

We have welcomed Sara Polgar and Terry Sweeney to our board of directors, bringing with them a passion for protecting and caring for our open spaces and for helping people to enjoy and connect with these special places. Leah Henning also joined our team, as the office manager. She has been carefully keeping all of our events running smoothly and projects on time.

Terry Sweeney

Sara Polgar

Leah Henning

demonstration garden

The demonstration garden has been revived, thanks to the work of Haley Peterson. Swing by our office at 788 Main Street in Half Moon Bay and check out all of the indigenous plants growing there.

make a donation

As we move into the next year, please consider donating to support all of this critical land preservation, protection, education and stewardship done by the Coastside Land Trust.

Donate

Junior Land Stewards Updates

Students completed their soil labs, learning about the general properties and then examining, testing and comparing the soil from their gardens.  The students worked as a group to come up with the percentages of the soil composition and compared the results to a soil texture diagram, using mathematical tools and skills.

Students are preparing to take to the fields to plant their seedlings into the ground of their gardens.  Lots of excitement and anticipation. We will share pictures of these student gardens once the students have done their work.

Nature Journaling with John Muir Laws- Webinar recording

Enjoy this Coastside Land Trust webinar recording, as we welcome John Muir Laws. Laws explores how to use nature journaling to engage curiosity, enhance observation, and focus our attention, observations, and experiences in the field.
 John Muir Laws is a naturalist, artist, and educator who has dedicated his work to connect people to nature through art and science. Laws has written and illustrated several books including The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (2016), The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds (2012), Sierra Birds: a Hiker’s Guide (2004), The Laws Guide to the Sierra Nevada (2007), and The Laws Pocket Guide Set to the San Francisco Bay Area (2009). He is a regular contributor to Bay Nature magazine with his “Naturalists Notebook” column, and a research associate for the California Academy of Science. Laws is also the president and founder of the Wild Wonder Foundation , which is dedicated to encouraging nature connection and conservation through attention, curiosity, art, science, and community.

Learn more about John Muir Laws at www.johnmuirlaws.com. Here you can view tutorials and see his materials suggestions. You can also order his books and resources, and follow along with his upcoming events calendar.

Donate to support the Coastside Land Trust free webinar programs and the protection and stewardship of our shared open spaces.

DONATE

Nature Journaling with John Muir Laws- Free community webinar

Nature Journaling With John Muir Laws

Free Community Webinar

Saturday, January 28, 2023

10:00am

Join the Coastside Land Trust for this free community webinar, as we welcome John Muir Laws. He will explore how to use nature journaling to engage curiosity, enhance observation, and focus our attention, observations, and experiences in the field.
 John Muir Laws is a naturalist, artist, and educator who has dedicated his work to connect people to nature through art and science. Laws has written and illustrated several books including The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (2016), The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds (2012), Sierra Birds: a Hiker’s Guide (2004), The Laws Guide to the Sierra Nevada (2007), and The Laws Pocket Guide Set to the San Francisco Bay Area (2009). He is a regular contributor to Bay Nature magazine with his “Naturalists Notebook” column, and a research associate for the California Academy of Science.

Register Here


When it Rains it POURS

With all of this rain, these Junior Land Stewards garden plots of Wavecrest Open Space have been getting quite a drink. While the CUSD fourth grade seedlings are steadily growing in their greenhouses and cold frames, these rains are bringing the necessary moisture to prepare the ground for all the plantings the students will soon do. The Junior Land Stewards are preparing to plant their indigenous seedlings into their plots in early February.

Nature Journaling in the Junior Land Stewards Program

Nature journaling activities have been the focus of the Junior Land Stewards field trips this month. Such activities have included Sound Mapping, My Secret Plant, I notice/I wonder/It reminds me of, and Ecosystem Inspections. El Granada students hiked to Quarry Park while sharing in a history lesson with special guest (and CLT Stewardship Advisory Board member) Barbara Dye. They learned about their neighborhood, the Ocean Shore railroad, and Quarry Park itself. Farallone View students hiked through their neighboring Golden Gate National Recreation Area with Eric Zepeda, of the Golden Gate National Conservancy. They learned a great deal about the park and the local endangered species.

Thanks to a grant from the Land Trust Alliance, this year the Coaststide Land Trust has been offering nature journal training for the CUSD 4th grade teachers and the JLS high school field guides. Teachers are completing a three part series, of which they have already concluded two sessions. The goal of these workshops is to provide the tools and enrich instructional practices for teaching nature journaling within the classroom. Haley Paterson, Junior Land Stewards program manager shares, “It's also been wonderful for teachers to share their successes and challenges in nature journaling with each other and the CLT staff. Teachers have enjoyed meeting each other and participating in these relaxing and enriching development workshops.” 

Great Thanks To Our Stewardship Advisory Committee

Where would the Coastside Land Trust be without our Stewardship Advisory Committee? We have these dedicated, hard working people to thank for so many reasons…

The Stewardship Advisory Committee leads the the biological and other environmental monitoring of all of our properties and conservation easements. They document and report the yearly changes in this open space land through photographs and sustained reporting, and provide input for issues on the land that need attention.

They are responsible for the organization of our community work days, as well as some of their own work days - removing invasive plants and saplings, to maintain and support the health of the coastal prairie. Several members of this stewardship team also support and work alongside our youngest stewards within the Junior Land Stewards program.

Thank you to Barbara Lohman (chair), John Zimmer, Barbara Dye, Janet Leonard, Susan Dunn, April Ramos, Terry Sweeney, and Sara Polgar who serve on this Stewardship Advisory Committee, and are the backbone of so much of who we are, and the impact we have on the environment.

Planting Seeds

The Junior Land Stewards of Hatch, El Granada and Farralone View elementary school have been busy planting their indigenous plant seeds. They will be tending to these and watching them grow until February, when they will transplant them into their pollinator gardens. The list of plants is long and includes California buckwheat, seaside daisy, lizard’s tail, yarrow, yellow bush lupine, clarkia, bee plant, phacelia, prunella, Douglas iris, and sneezeweed.

Junior Land Stewards Prepare Their Plots

The Junior Land Stewards have been preparing their future planting plots. Led by their Half Moon Bay high school field guides, they have been removing invasive species, and sheet mulching to prepare their habitat restoration gardens for planting in the spring. They have also taken part in naturalist scavenger hunts where they have been looking for birds of prey, native and invasive plants, signs of the fall season, and places where wildlife might live.

Donate to support the Junior Land Stewards Program and the critical protection and stewardship of our shared open space land.

Donate

Thanks to the Sequoia Audubon Society

A humongous thank you to the knowledgable Sequoia Audubon Society guides who led us all on a really fantastic Wavecrest raptor walk. With a large number of guides, we were able to travel in small groups, and the raptor viewing was pretty incredible for all. This was surely a reminder of why the preservation of open space is so important.

Photo credit: Edward Wang

Donate to support this critical open space habitat- shared my many creatures (big and small).

Donate