The Board and Staff of the Escondido Creek Conservancy thank you for making the following 2011 successes possible:
*At the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve Interpretive Center we hosted 6,500 visitors, sponsored Educational Programs for 150 children and presented 3 Art Exhibits.
*We continued our advocacy for the growing regional open space park now totaling over 2000 contiguous acres in the Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove area alone.
We hosted numerous watershed tours for Federal, State and County Land Agencies showcasing available tracts of land for possible future purchase as open space native habitat.
*We provided continued Stewardship of over 600 acres of valuable coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitat in the Escondido Creek watershed. This included controlling exotic plants, installing fences to protect sensitive areas from off road vehicle traffic and planting many native oaks, toyon and sumac to further restoration efforts on the preserved lands.
*We worked with the USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop a plan for management of our 400 acre Bottle Peak property near Lake Wolford.
We conducted biological surveys on habitat mitigation properties for which we are the designated stewards and continued to collect water quality data from the Escondido Creek.
*And finally, we expanded the Quarry Reserve which we plan to be the future home of the endangered southern steelhead refuge and hatchery with a strategic purchase that improves our access.
Thank you to all our friends and supporters!