SPOTLIGHT: ELKHORN SLOUGH FOUNDATION

Sitting around a conference table at the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, stewardship director Kim Hayes flips through a book showing the prior state of Sand Hill Farm, a 107-acre parcel off of Elkhorn Road that, for decades, was used to farm strawberries.

The pictures show a landscape covered with shredded, partially buried agricultural plastic.

“This property was a disaster,” says ESF Executive Director Mark Silberstein.

ESF bought the land in June with a $1.6 million grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy, on the condition that ESF raise additional funds to restore the site, which is expected to cost about $440,000 and take seven years.

The land came with unique challenges: The former landowner didn’t clear the ag plastic off the soil after the last crop. When winter rains came, sandy soil eroded off of the surrounding hills and covered much of the plastic. By the time ESF acquired the land, that soil had hardened like cement.

But with the help of 13 contractors, more than 100 volunteers and many hours of staff time, much of the plastic has already been removed: To date, 17 dumpsters – a mix of 30 – and 40-yarders – have been filled with trash from the site.

The property’s topography is like an amphitheater, and on a recent, sun-filled morning, Hayes steers a pickup toward its highest point; Silberstein rides shotgun. A green carpet of Merced rye blankets the fields, a cover crop ESF sowed in late October. The dirt roads on the farm are covered in rice straw, which Hayes finished laying down just hours before the season’s first rain.

“It was a nail-biter,” Silberstein says.

The day is clear, and once Hayes reaches the top, sweeping views of Elkhorn Slough and Monterey Bay unfold. Looking out over the site, Silberstein and Hayes explain the future vision: 15 of the 107 acres will be farmed organically, and the steep hillsides will be returned to chaparral and oak woodland. That vision is ESF’s big idea in this year’s MCGives! campaign.

“We’re going to be changing things big-time,” Hayes says.

The transformation will help prevent soil runoff into the slough – which is the primary reason ESF had long sought to acquire the property – but it’s one that will take time.

“It’s like turning an ocean liner,” Silberstein says. “We’re just learning how the land wants to respond.”

“It’s all an experiment,” Hayes says, adding that continued help from volunteers with cleanup and planting will be key. “Everything adds up.”

A wrentit trills nearby, and Silberstein says, “Song of the chaparral.”