Gathering in honor of Ric Lohman
July 12
6:30 pm
Let us join together to share stories and memories as we toast and celebrate Ric's life. There will be beverages and snacks provided. Please bring your own blanket or a camp chair if you would like to sit. We hope to catch a sunset and a green flash. The event starts at 6:30 pm. Toasting and the sharing of stories will start at 7:00 pm.
LOCATION: Wavecrest Open Space. We will meet just south of the Seymour Bridge at the second overlook, which is easily visible from the bridge. DIRECTIONS
The closest parking lot is POPLAR BEACH parking lot (which closes 30 minutes after sunset). There is also a large amount of free street parking in the neighboring streets. Parking is also available at SMITH FIELD, with post sunset closure of gates.
CLICK HERE to read Ric's obituary in the Half Moon Bay Review.
Please also consider making a DONATION in memory of Ric Lohman, and his dedication to keeping the character of the Coastside, along with his passion to preserve open space. Memorial donations will fund the Wavecrest trail extension. As an avid runner, Ric wore through many pairs of shoes running along the Wavecrest coastline.
Contact jo@coastsidelandtrust.org with any questions.
"All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost"
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Coastside Land Trust Free Community Webinars
As of this month the Coastside Land Trust has been sharing our free community webinars with the public for three years, and counting. You can enjoy our Past Webinars or learn about Upcoming webinars that you may like to attend. These webinars incorporate information from all areas of the natural world, from soil, geology, sea level rise and carbon sequestration to botany, birds, banana slugs, monarchs, and virtual elephant seal tours.
Junior Land Stewards Program complete their year of stewardship and learning
After a year of stewardship and service, the Junior Land Stewards have recently returned to the gardens where they had planted their seedlings. They added final field observations to their nature journals, and shared in the joy of spring together. The Junior Land Stewards have also received their certificates of completion for their accomplishments this year.
Wavecrest is in full bloom
In the words of Grey Hayes, “There is so much spring that it can’t be contained. Flowers are gushing brilliant color everywhere. It is time to get out and about!”
Please enjoy today’s photos taken in the Wavecrest Open Space by Coastside Land Trust’s Stewardship Advisory Board member, Barbara Dye.
What a beautiful place to know and enjoy…
Walking Tours of the Purissima Old Town Site
The Coastside Land Trust has resumed tours of the Purissima Old Town Site. Small, docent-led tours explore native flora and fauna and learn about the history of the people who used to live on this site. The Purissima Old Town Site is located on the corner of Highway 1 and Verde Road, on the way to Elkus Ranch.
Wavecrest Work Days Are Back
Great work and many thanks to all who participated in the Wavecrest work day. The Junior Land Stewards plots are looking great, and have been sheet mulched to prevent future weeds, and to retain critical moisture during these dry months. It was a beautiful day, with a mixture of familiar and new faces, including a trio of young girls (one birthday girl in a rainbow tutu who turned three). If you missed out this time, please plan to join us on July 16, as we return to Wavecrest to do more good work.
The JLS Finishes Another Successful Year
The Junior Land Stewards Program has wrapped up for this school year and these remarkable students accomplished so much. Take a look at all of the work they've done and discover how much they've bloomed. Thank you to everyone who supported this incredible program, we can't wait to meet our new group of Junior Land Stewards next year!
Donate to support the Junior Land Stewards and the critical protection and stewardship of our shared open spaces
Bay to Sea Trail Across the Peninsula
Eleven Organizations Formalize Agreement to Create ‘Bay to Sea Trail’ Across the Peninsula
Public agencies and private nonprofits commit to connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean for future recreational use
Palo Alto, Calif. – May 13, 2020 — Eleven public agencies, municipalities and private nonprofit organizations that manage and protect open space in the Bay Area have formalized an agreement to collaborate on creating a Bay to Sea Trail across the Peninsula for public use. The target date for completion of the project is 2037. The Bay to Sea Trail is envisioned as an approximately 40-mile trail that will connect people from across the region and beyond to open space and other regional trails on the Peninsula. This multiuse trail – for walkers, hikers, bikers and equestrians – will connect the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean.
The Junior Land Stewards Today
Hello Coastside Land Trust friends,
We are all currently experiencing a time of great change. In our homes, as we shelter in place, we often feel vulnerable and uneasy. We are isolated and disconnected. But there is something healing about looking out the window, about taking a step outside to listen to the birds, to observe the spring blooms, to feel the movement of the air. It is something that crosses generations, and cultures, and political boundaries.
To observe nature, and to be curious about it is a gift we can give to ourselves. This is also something that we can help our children to understand and to appreciate. The main purpose of the Junior Land Stewards program has been to do just this - to connect our Coastside children with the natural world, and to develop a genuine sense of wonder and care for their open spaces, and the natural world around them. We dually have called upon them to become stewards of the land, so that they are not solely observers, but that they identify themselves in a way that is connected to the earth, and responsible for it.
In this difficult time, we must count our blessings. One great blessing is that our Junior Land Stewards had just the right amount of time this year to take part in their 4 field studies projects. They explored our local open space and critically discussed and observed the function and interdependence of the many species of plants and animals. Students dissected flowers and plants and seeds. They sowed their own seeds and watched them grow, and develop- and ultimately planted them into Wavecrest Open Space in the form of 3 pollinator gardens. They did this with the goal of attracting and providing food for critically important pollinators (e.g. birds, butterflies, bees, and other insects), while adding to the diversity of the native plants and the overall health of the coastal prairie habitat. Our own Half Moon Bay High School environmental education students served as leaders in this program, and were also given ample opportunities to connect with nature and be the stewards in this process.
As we were first asked to shelter in place, this program seemed like something that we would have to put on hold. After all, how could we ask kids to get their hands dirty outside when they are sheltering in their homes? Community members and students, however, have quickly proven us wrong, reminding us that this is actually the time when the original tenants of the program are critically important. Students must observe that the plants and birds and other animals continue to live and thrive, and grow- regardless of our current struggles. The pollinator plants that our students placed into the ground less than 2 months ago have grown exponentially, and many have begun to bloom. They are already attracting pollinators and Wavecrest Open Space is vibrant and alive with the changes of Spring. Students are observing how their stewardship continues to impact the world around them, via virtual weekly field trips to their garden plots (weekly photos and videos taken by CLT staff).
The Junior Land Stewards are also being challenged weekly to get outside into their own backyards, or to look out their windows to take the soundscape, to observe and analyze nearby trees, to examine clouds and traces of the animals around them. Here is one fourth grade student’s recent personal refection, written independently and shared with her teacher, Mrs. Arkell:
Why are wild, open spaces important to you and the world?
By: Kaylee Serrano
Wild and open spaces are important because they provide the habitat for mammals, birds, insects, and seeds to survive. Open space supports human health. Nature provides countless processes that give us high-quality air and clean and bountiful water. Open spaces have amazing plants that make it look one hundred times better. If the plants are native plants they are really good for the environment. If they are invasive plants they are not so good for the environment because invasive plants take over too much space. And we want to have more space for native plants.
Please stay tuned for our virtual gallery in which our students will share a great deal of their learning, through photographs, writing, and illustration. It is our hope that you too will find joy in witnessing the work, the thinking and the curiosity of our local Coastside students.
In the Media
November 2018: Junior land stewards hatch in trust’s educational program
October 2014: California's Newest Coastal Trail Segment Opens in Half Moon Bay
September 2014: Coastside Land Trust -- safeguarding community habitat by the San Jose Mercury News covers CLT's mission and our upcoming Raptorama event!
Pacific Currents episode on Coastal Open Space Preservation:
Check out the Coastal Raptors episode of Pacific Currents featuring 2013's Raptorama: