National Estuaries Day

Elkhorn Slough Reserve Open House & Native Plant Fair

ELKHORN — The Elkhorn Slough Reserve welcomes the community to its 2016 Open House & Native Plant Fair on Saturday, September 24, 2016 celebrating National Estuaries Day. Activities and presentations are scheduled from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public Elkhorn Slough Reserve, 1700 Elkhorn Rd., Watsonville.

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.

Elkhorn Slough Reserve Open House & Native Plant Fair, celebrating National Estuaries Day. Activities include a Native Plant Fair supporting the Reserve greenhouse; walks and talks with land stewards and researchers (including wildlife walks, native plant gardening, sea otter research, “meet the researchers” and more), kids arts and crafts; plein-air art for kids with our Fall 2016 Artist in Residence; viewing the slough’s microscopic life at the Reserve learning lab, and a range of displays and hands-on demonstrations.

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

Saturday, September 24, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. food vendors will be onsite to sell lunch.

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

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For more than 30 years, Elkhorn Slough Foundation (ESF) has worked in partnership with the Reserve, and is the only nonprofit 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. For more information, please visit www.elkhornslough.org or call the Elkhorn Slough Reserve at (831) 728-2822.