Special day of activities slated at Elkhorn Slough Reserve

Celebrating and showcasing one of the Central Coast’s natural habits will occur at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve on Saturday, September 27. It’s National Estuaries Day and organizers at the reserve will host activities and presentations free and open to the public.

Since its official designation in 1988, dozens of sites throughout the coastal United States have celebrated National Estuaries Day on the last Saturday of September, hosting gatherings, field trips, events, and seminars to highlight the extraordinary richness of our nation’s estuaries.

The Elkhorn Slough Reserve Open House & Native Plant Fair will begin at 9:30 a.m. on the Saturday, the 27th. Expect walks and talks with land stewards and researchers with topics ranging from wildlife viewing, native plant restoration, rainwater capture, sea otter research, and water quality monitoring, kids crafts, viewing the slough’s microscopic life at the Reserve education lab, to a Native Plant Fair supporting the Reserve greenhouse.

Presenters will include Reserve Manager Dave Feliz and California Department of Fish & Wildlife, naturalists, researchers, and land stewards from the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Tidal Wetlands Project, and Elkhorn Slough Foundation.

So put it on your calendar, Saturday, September 27 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, 1700 Elkhorn Road in Watsonville.

If you’d like more information you can log onto www.elkhornslough.org or call the Reserve at 831-728-2822.

Administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, is one of 28 reserves established nationwide to support long-term research, water quality monitoring, environmental education, and coastal stewardship.

For more than 30 years, Elkhorn Slough Foundation has worked in partnership with the Reserve, and is the only non-profit organization solely dedicated to protecting Elkhorn Slough and its watershed forever. ESF has conserved and restored nearly 4,000 acres of critical habitat approximately 9% of the watershed.