Preserving & Protecting the Open Spaces of Pacifica and Surrounding Areas. Land News Autumn 2020 Vol. 17 No. 1 Contents Love (for Open Space) San Pedro Creek – Steelhead Trout Wildlife Camera New Board Member Open Space Award PLT Featured Photograph On the Coastside Magazine Article Pacifica Land Trust Financial Report Donations President’s Message 2020 Kathy Kellerman I am thrilled to announce that the PLT is the 2020 recipient of the City of Pacifica’s Open Space Preservation Award. (See the article and Proclamation on page 6.) We are proud and grateful for this recognition, and thank the City and the Open Space and Parkland Advisory Committee for this honor. We are equally grateful to all our partners, donors, stewards and volunteers who made this award possible. The PLT was also honored to be featured in a wonderful article in Mori Point, now part of the GGNRA, a Pacifica Land Trust and the October issue of On the Coastside Magazine. In case you missed Trust for Public Land preservation project. it, you can read it on our website under “In the News.” In a welcome serendipity, my favorite pastime has turned out to be my solace during these interesting times: enjoying the outdoors. And in an amazing twist, the United States Congress shared my enthusiasm and passed the Great American Outdoors Act. This will provide $900 million each year for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and ensure that important land and water resources will be preserved for the benefit of all Americans. After fifty years of environmental advocacy, this legislation was finally enacted with widely bipartisan support. On a local scale, the Pacifica Land Trust also strives to preserve our land, water and open space for wildlife and recreation alike. Check out the articles in this issue on local animals and how to enjoy them safely. Here is a heartfelt wish for the health of our communities and our wildlands! Pedro Point Headlands. Pacifica, CA. 2014. Photo by Stephen Johnson. Love (for Open Space) in the Time of Covid Early development patterns left much of the Peninsula’s open and systemic social inequity. At the same time, our planet is fac- space concentrated on the coast, including around Pacifica. A ing crises of man-made climate change and of biodiversity loss, Pacifica resident can easily experience the frigid waters of the which, like Covid-19, have been shown to disproportionately im- Pacific, the sight of a blue heron fishing, or just be alone with pact already disadvantaged communities. Preservation of nature nature on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Those of us can provide direct health benefits to people, slow biodiversity who live in Pacifica are lucky to have easy access to county, state, loss, and buffer the impacts of climate change. These benefits and national parks, but it is important to remember that these should not be a privilege, but a right of all people. We must all are paid for by the tax dollars of much broader constituencies. join the fight to preserve open space and improve equitable ac- cess to the benefits of nature. Within the city boundaries of Pacifica, 51% of land is dedicated to open space. This was not by accident. From Land’s End to Years ago, communities saw the value in creating village greens Sweeney Ridge, Mori Point, Linda Mar Beach, and the Pedro that provided an open-air meeting place for the local people. Point Headlands, the Pacifica Land Trust, with the support of The current pandemic has shown us the value of open space many partners, had the foresight to fight for a vision of a city and the need to create more of it for ALL of us to share. There that included nature as an essential element. Since the Covid-19 are also many current and future opportunities to protect pandemic hit the Bay Area, Pacifica’s open space has been busy undeveloped land within the city of Pacifica and throughout the with people seeking relief from the stress and isolation we are Bay Area; both are important so that everyone can easily access all facing. People are finding spiritual rejuvenation, a break from protected open space within their own community. The Pacifica constant anxiety, and opportunities to safely exercise in the Land Trust will continue to take advantage of these opportunities. beautiful open space in and around Pacifica. Yet on more than Please remember that the hard work to preserve open space, one occasion our elected leaders, rightly so, have had to shut protect cherished wildlife, and improve human welfare, is predi- down much of our open space to visitors due to the dangers cated on a shared responsibility to protect open space and to presented by the inability to maintain safe physical distancing support each other in this fight. With your help, the Pacifica when so many people are flocking to the same place. Land Trust will continue to defend your right to enjoy the out- Recent events, including the vastly different impacts of Covid-19 doors in this time of great need. Your dedication to The Pacifica on different communities, have helped expose the deep dispari- Land Trust is wholly appreciated! ties in our nation that have stemmed from generations of racism San Pedro Creek – Home To Steelhead Trout San Pedro Creek, which runs through Linda Mar in Pacifica, Upon entering the ocean, the steelhead change to a silvery col- is home to a population of steelhead trout. Steelhead are or and alter their physiology in adaptation to salt water. Many anadromous, meaning that they live in both salt and fresh water. coastal creeks have a lagoon on the beach where steelhead have Closely related to rainbow trout, they are listed as a threatened a chance to adapt to salt water slowly. Lake Mathilde was such species in the central coastal area. Certainly they are threat- a lagoon in the San Pedro Creek watershed, but it is gone, filled ened here, where their well-being is a major concern of the San in by artichoke farmers long before urbanization. Once out in Pedro Creek Watershed Coalition and the Pacifica Land Trust. the ocean, steelhead grow larger for 1 to 4 years before return- ing to their home creek or river to spawn. From Eggs to Maturity: The Journey of Steelhead Trout Steelhead can grow up to several feet long, and weigh 8 to 11 Threats to Steelhead pounds, although we have accounts of larger fish before urban- There is no question that the population of steelhead in San ization of the watershed. They are named for their silvery color Pedro Creek has declined since the build-out of Linda Mar in and rounded head. In freshwater, their body changes to a green- the 1950s and 1960s. Both the Watershed Coalition and ish hue with a pink stripe lengthwise, like rainbow trout but not the Land Trust consider it a duty to help the remaining steel- as strongly colored. Steelhead are revered by fishermen, but be head by making the creek as healthy as possible. aware that state law prohibits fishing for them in creeks near the coast, including San Pedro Creek. As in many cities, the creek serves as a storm sewer collector, so anything that washes onto the street goes into the creek via Mature fish migrate from the ocean into the creek to spawn a storm sewer. For example, soap from washing cars or trucks from January to April. It is especially important that the mouth diminishes the ability of steelhead to breathe. Herbicides and of the creek not be blocked by stones or logs to allow steel- pesticides washed into the creek may reduce amounts of zoo- head a chance to enter. During spawning, a female fish digs a plankton and macro-invertebrates that are food for steelhead. shallow hole called a redd with her tail in a gravelly part of the Emptying a swimming pool into the creek years ago effectively creek, lays 500 to 1,000 eggs, and covers them with gravel. Then wiped out all the steelhead for a season. males fertilize them. Unlike salmon, steelhead can return to their “home” creek or river multiple times to spawn. Report- Barriers to their migration upstream to spawn, such as “plunge” edly, they live up to 11 years. pools several feet below bridges or culverts, are another culprit in declining steelhead numbers. The Watershed Coalition and The eggs hatch within 30 days. The hatchlings begin feeding on Land Trust are working with the Resource Conservation Dis- the yolk sac and the “fry” emerge from the redd after 4 to 6 trict of San Mateo County to address one of the worst barriers weeks. They move to shallow areas of the creek but with some on the creek below the Adobe Drive bridge. Join us in our fight current. There, the fry feed on zooplankton and small insects. to save these magnificent fish in San Pedro Creek! As they grow into juveniles called parr, they develop bars on the sides of their body. After 1 to 3 years in the creek, they migrate out to sea. Less than 1% survive their first year. Pedro Point Wildlife Camera Our friends at Felidae Conservation Fund have installed a wildlife camera at Pedro Point Headlands as part of the Bay Area Puma Project (BAPP). BAPP is a long-term study of the Bay Area’s pumas, their habitats and the potential for conflict with humans. Cameras are placed in research grids to collect data on all wildlife, and then the data is used to answer important questions on Bay Area spe- cies, with a focus on mountain lions and bobcats, and their prey.