Challenges to Managing Land
(C) Richard Murphy
Every piece of land has a story to tell about the natural world and the impacts of humans on the landscape.
When the Conservancy purchases or takes management responsibility for a piece of conservation land, first it tries to understand its story. Because the Escondido Creek watershed is part of southern California, the larger story of southern California, and the impacts humans have had on it, plays a key part in understanding each site.
During the process of buying a property, the Conservancy team begins to uncover the story of the site. What plants and animals live there? Is the site healthy or will it need restoration due to human impacts? Are there historical and cultural aspects that must be understood and protected? How can endangered, threatened and sensitive species be enhanced on the site such that they can thrive? As we learn more about a property, the Conservancy develops a strategy to protect it. Our professional land managers, in association with trained volunteer land stewards and other volunteers, implement the strategy in monthly and weekly visits.
​Land restoration is a long game.
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That much is an unfortunate and unavoidable fact. The good news is, after the Conservancy has acquired a property, it is no longer threatened by development. This gives us the time to secure the funds needed, through grants and donations, to restore human-caused damage.
For example, the Conservancy’s now-Sardina Preserve was once home to Mr. Paintball, a business whereby groups and individuals would run through different “villages” and obstacles while shooting plastic airsoft pellets and paintballs. Before the Conservancy took ownership of the property in 2018, containers of Paintball-related debris were removed from the site but trash removal has been ongoing as new debris is still being found. Sadly, hundreds of thousands of small plastic airsoft bullets still litter the site. To support the playing fields, the operator graded flat pads that, at the time of the Conservancy’s purchase, were denuded of vegetation. Some were coated in paint, and some had topsoil removed such that, years later, nothing is growing. Additionally, a forest of non-native eucalyptus trees infiltrated a small creek on the site, reducing the area that otherwise would support plants and animals native to North County.
There is good news, however. Through hard work, hundreds of volunteers, support from the State of California Department of Natural Resources, and wonderful conservation partners including CalFire, Lumbercycle and the Nature Collective, the Sardina Preserve is being reborn. Non-native plants and trees, which are often more fire-resistant than non-natives, are being removed and native trees and bushes planted, to transform the former airsoft villages into oak groves.
