___In late December a powerful storm swirled around Alaska and crashed into central and southern California. It struck during the night, whipping pine trees into stiff dances and flattening dead plant stalks in marshes and meadows. The heavy drops rattled in the oak canopy like machine-gun fire, soaked the forest floor and chortled down the hillslopes, filling waterways with muddy, nutrient-rich runoff.
___Up Larkin Valley, in a mouse hole on a low, oak-studded hillslope above a pond, a salamander felt the chill in the ground and heard the storm tearing through the trees. All through the long, sun-baked days of summer, the amphibian had, like other “mole” salamander species, lived a subterranean life, hiding in rodent burrows to avoid the heat. With the onset of the rainy season, the salamander had begun to forage through the leaf litter, scarfing up sowbugs, slugs and beetles. Now it was time to begin the perilous journey back to her birthplace.
___Into the wet, black night the small, black-and-yellow creature crawled, over oak leaves cupping water, her long toes digging into the sandy clay-loam soil and scratching against tiny white fragments of stone. She skirted debris-flows of smelly pellets below a wood rat’s nest and slipped through a semicircle of Russula mushrooms. Blackberry sprouts prickled against her skin. She stepped across flattened fern stalks, past baby ferns crooked like candy canes. Straight for the pond the salamander marched, slogging right through the slimy, jellyfish-like mass of a large, decaying Russula. She eased her 21/2-inch body (plus tail) over an acorn burst by the expanding red-and-white tissue within it. She pushed aside twigs and oak galls blown down from the trees. One long-toed foot sunk into a mushroom cap laying bottom-up like a wagon wheel. The rain slicked her back; gravity pulled her downward against her sturdy forelimbs.
___She moved onto a blacktail buck’s bed, from which the edge of the pond was visible through an opening in the foliage, could she see that far. The buck’s rest was halfway down the hill, situated under a leaning oak, four bounds from one side of the swale, five from the opposite one. At this hour the buck was up the ridge under the dry side of a big Sequoia. The salamander would have crawled under his legs –just as she now squirmed under an oak limb moistened black between patches of snow-white lichen. Mushrooms fruited everywhere, some caps the size of a pill bug, others bigger than a lily pad. Witch’s butter fungus crowned rotting limbs with golden brains.
___Down into a seep the amphibian half-crawled, half-slid, knocking down pungent-smelling mint shoots, skidding down four-foot sedge blades. Rivulets of water pushed her like a tailwind. She entered the shelter of a redwood cluster where the rain dripped only a little more than a summer fog. She crawled clumsily over the rough needles and cones, beneath a flock of roosting juncos. Just as she emerged from the redwoods, a bough crashed to the earth almost on top of her. Spooked, she stopped, then crawled a bit further to stop again in a Juncus clump.
___By morning the rivers were running bank-to-bank through fields dusted with leaves and branches. The rain continued through the day, the charged drops pearling off birds’ backs and beading with electric, silver flashes on water surfaces. Occasional shafts of light gleamed, spotlighting the bay’s gray waters.
___In the willow copse where the salamander rested, a mixed flock of purple finches, kinglets, thrushes and sparrows fed in the storm debris, picking up seeds, madrone berries, spiders, larvae. A fox sparrow tap-danced on the sandy clay, shuffling its feet forward and back together like Fred Astair. Hermit thrushes flitted through low boughs as varied thrush winged between higher ones. A raccoon trundled down to the pond. A raven sculled over, croaking.
___After nightfall the showers ceased but the salamander, sensing the proximity of the pond and her vulnerability in the rush clump, pushed on. The going here was thicker, a tangle of coyote bush, honeysuckle, blackberry, currant, willow, coffeeberry and baby madrones. She trod over green-brown, glistening deer droppings. Down an embankment, across a paved driveway and into short Easter grass and pimpernel she hastened. Around tall clumps of Carex, over tiny mushrooms, through a windrow of sticks and broken sedge stalks at the water’s edge and then into the cold brown water, where she was clumsy no more, but gone with a flick of her spotted, flat tail.
– Jerry Busch

The ponds and riparian habitat of the upper Larkin Valley support a subpopulation of the endangered Santa Cruz long-toed salamander. The salamanders visit temporary or permanent ponds each winter, residing less than a month before retreating to terrestrial redoubts in adjoining oak woodlands, willow groves or even chaparral habitat. After insemination, they attach their eggs individually - two to four hundred of them - to submerged vegetation. The young generally leave the ponds by August, but can metamorphose quicker in response to receding waterlines. Habitat destruction, roads, water quality degradation and feral predators all contribute to the species’ decline. Riparian conservation, improved road maintenance and bullfrog control along Harkins Slough in the upper Larkin Valley could help the species to survive.

Environmental Improvements for PVHS
___While Pajaro Valley High School (PVHS)received considerable press during 2004,very little was reported about the extensive habitat restoration requirements that were established as part of the approval of this project by the California Coastal Commission. improvements in environmental protection particularly for the 38 acres of sensitive habitat outside the developed area.
___The specific PVHS habitat restoration and enhancement features as well as the time-line for implementation were prepared by the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) in 2002 in a document referred to as the Biological Restoration Plan (BRP). The BRP serves as a road map to guide the implementation of the restoration work by the PVUSD in coordination with the City of Watsonville, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game. In January of 2003, following active input by the WWW regarding the plan, the PVUSD established the PVHS
___Environment and Construction Oversight Partnership Committee composed of PVUSD, City of Watsonville and WWW representatives. (WWW was represented by Planning and Conservation Committee member Chris Lyons as well as then Board Chair, Carol Whitehill). The committee met regularly during 2003 and 2004.
___Early in 2003 WWW identified weaknesses in the BRP. In order to have BRP provide the best possible outcome for the functional ecology of the surrounding wetland and upland habitats, nine modifications were put forward through the Environment and Construction Oversight Committee. These modifications related to either the BRP restoration and enhancement designs or the implementation methods. They included features such as
___* disking and seeding the northern portion of the West Branch of Struve Slough ESHA and gully repair to prevent erosion;
___* modification of the oak cluster and riparian planting areas to maximize the grassland habitat below the campus and above the West Branch of Struve Slough;
___* modifications of the plant pallettes to delete species that are not consistent with the habitat and to ensure use of species from local plant stock that will have higher survival and vigor rates;
___* modifications to mowing practices to minimize impacts on small wildlife species that inhabit the area;
___* elimination of pesticide use to the greatest extent feasible; and,
___* modification of the Hanson Slough ESHA wetland grading methods to avoid compaction of the existing wetland subgrade and minimize potential effects on groundwater hydrology.
___Most of 2004 was spent in negotiating obstacles blocking approval of these needed modifications, as well as making alterations to the 7-year implementation time-line. Ultimately, WWW’s work was successfully completed on this aspect of our oversight of the PVHS restoration, enhancement and management practices. On September 9, 2004 the City of Watsonville received notice from the California Coastal Commission authorizing changes to the BRP for the PVHS, referenced as Addendum #2, and notified PVUSD that they concurred with this action.
___As 2005 begins WWW is continuing this work, through the Planning and Conservation Committee, to ensure that the approved modifications are carried along with the rest of the BRP. We will remember the achievement of modifications to the BRP as a reminder that with perseverance improved planning strategies can become reality. We mark this effort as part of an ongoing commitment by WWW to ensure that this new high school becomes a living monument not only to education but also to the incredible surrounding complex of wetlands, terrace grasslands and farmlands, and through these, the betterment of wildlife that depend upon this area for their survival.
– Chris Lyons

As We See lt: Educational, environmental success story
WETLANDS: An important environmental, educational center is coming to Monterey Bay.
___More than 200 people turned out over the weekend to pay tribute to native son Henry Mello, the citizen-politician who died earlier this year. Speaker after speaker commented on mello’s commitment to young people and to their education. A day earlier, also in Watsonville, the promise of education that Mello believed in was on display at the new Pajaro Valley High School, where a fascinating new wetlands education center was dedicated.
___The turnout of community members who want to be part of the new wetlands center would have made Mello happy. A wide variety of community members attended the dedication, including Watsonville mushroom farmer Patrick J. Fitz, who donated $75,000 for the project. Like other new developments in Watsonville, the wetlands center has resulted from a diverse group of community interests – including farmers, developers and conservationists.
___Some might remember that the high school itself was controversial, and that the local chapter of the Sierra Club had tried to put a stop to it. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed, not in small part due to an agreement put together by then-Assemblyman Fred Keeley. That agreement specified how the high school would be developed.
___One of the most exciting aspects of the agreement was that one part of the campus would be dedicated to the study of Watsonville sloughs, a key aspect of the Monterey Bay environment.
___We have long argued that environmentalism involves a lot more than simply protecting land. A big part of environmentalism also is education, and teaching people of all ages about the interaction of diverse habitats.
The Watsonville wetlands areas are a good example. To some, there sloughs look like a kind of wasteland, something that could be developed and turned into shopping malls.
___The reality is far different: The sloughs are home to any number of shorebirds and aquatic life that are a significant part of the Monterey Bay environment.
___Students at the high school—some of whom perhaps have never realized the beauty and importance of the wetland areas—~ will have a tremendous opportunity to be introduced to this environment.
___As for Fitz and his Fitz Fresh Inc. mushroom production, environmental concerns are nothing new. His family operates its farm nearby, on Lee Road, and as he pointed out at the dedication, environmental protection and agricultural land protection go hand in hand. Following his family’s dedication of $75,000 to the project, the city of Watsonville, Watsonville Wetlands Watch and the Pajaro Valley Unified School District have agreed to name the project the Patrick J. Fitz Wetlands Education Resource Center
___The center’s ultimate cost will be $760.000. The city has donated $150.000 to the project, and the school district got a $375,000 state grant. Watsonville Wetlands Watch will help operate the center, and is raising the rest.
___In addition to a visitor’s center, the facility will include a classroom, a lab and a greenhouse.
___The center will be a welcome and important addition to a variety of environmental education centers that ring the Monterey Bay shoreline. Its development is good news for Watsonville, for education and for the environment.
For information about donating to the Wetlands Educational Resource Center, get in touch with Wetlands Watch at P. O. Box 1239, Freedom, CA, 95019, or call 728-5667.
Reprinted from the Santa Cruz Sentinel, with permission

PROGRESS REPORT ON Wetlands Educational Resource Center DEVELOPMENT CAMPAIGN
To date, community friends and members of the Watsonville Wetlands Watch have pledged $190,000 towards the $235,000 goal for the Wetlands Educational Resource Center at Pajaro Valley High School. Seven major donors have stepped forward in this expansive community effort. In the “Great Blue Heron” category, Patrick J. Fitz of Fitz Fresh Mushrooms has contributed $75,000. In the “Marsh Hawk” category, six people have committed between $10,000 to $25,000 to the innovative nature center. Carol Whitehill and Bob Culbertson, co-chairs of the fundraising effort for WERC also point up the grassroots donors. “These are very important as every dollar counts, and we are very appreciative of these many donors as well.” Whitehill said the original $235,000 goal may need to be adjusted 10%-15% upwards because of the unremitting increase in construction costs.
A $30,000 grant is in place for staffing including the hiring of a year-round Coordinator of the Wetlands Educational Resource Center as the Watsonville Wetlands Watch is responsible for the administration and oversight of the WERC. The deadline for submitting applications is January 31, 2005. The qualifications as specified in the job title: “The coordinator must have excellent organizational skills and work well with people; possess good oral and written communication skills; have at least two years experience working in an environmental organization in a management position; demonstrated ability to set up and supervise age appropriate wetlands research. A four-year degree in interpretation, recreation, the natural sciences or a closely related field are required as well as bilingual Spanish/English capabilities. The yearly salary is $40,000 with medical benefits. The start date is March 1 of this year. Some of the responsibilities of this position will include: administrator for overall operation of the WERC, including budget and financial management, reports, record keeping and statistics on WERC center use; In consultation with a WWW Board-appointed supervisor, coordinate programs from other agencies such as the Resource Conservation District, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the City of Watsonville; schedule classroom and visitor center use, plan and implement special events, and coordinate with other environmental groups concerning programs and room use; coordinate a student mentoring program; carry out public relations and marketing including written materials and their distribution, talks and presentation."
- Ann Jenkins

Gifting Stock
WWW now has the capability to efficiently accept donations of stock. As a non-profit corporation, we can accept stock without any capital gains tax consequences. Consult your tax advisor about this type of donation for your individual situation.
Anyone interested in considering a donation of stock to WWW should contact Treasurer, Caroline Rodgers at 831-722-8503.