May 1997, Volume 30, Number 8

Condor Recovery Project Officers Nominated Pee Wee Explores Point Reyes A Day at Pepperwood Madrone's Web Page Debuts Pee Wee Reports Observations Birdathon Midweek Walkabout Results Beginners Bird Walks Field Trip Report Youngsters Aid Birdathon Conservation Successes Audubon in the Classroom Welcome New Members Mayacamas Update Carneros Bird Walk

A Day at Pepperwood by Joan Dranginis High on a windy promontory that marks the center of the 3,100-acre Pepperwood Ranch Preserve, twenty Madrone Audubon members convened the morning of April 6 for an outing organized by Linda Curry, a member of the California Academy of Sciences. Linda had learned that the Academy, which owns the Preserve, had put it on the market for subdivision and development. She wanted us to see it, and appreciate its values as a natural area. We knew we might never have this opportunity again. The meadows, lusciously carpeted with spring wildflowers, beckoned from every direction, but before starting we had to pause and enjoy the 360-degree views, including Mount St. Helena, the Rincon Ridge, the Pacific Coast Range, and the Santa Rosa plain. Our leader was Greg De Nevers, the resident biologist, who has lived on the property for twenty years. As we ambled over three miles of hilly grassland and Oak woodlands, Greg talked to us, skillfully weaving scientific facts into stories about the region, past and present, geology, wildflowers, butterflies, bunch grass and scrub layers. We were shown a classic oak woodland covered in California blue grass that closely resembles the landscape encountered by the area's first European settlers. We spotted Bluebirds, American Goldfinches, Acorn Woodpeckers, and a possible Merlin, and heard Warbling Vireos, Orange-crowned Warblers, a Pileated Woodpecker, a Wrentit, and a Pacific-slope Flycatcher: a small sampling of the 101 bird species found at the Preserve. Located only ten miles northeast of Santa Rosa, the terrain--nearly pristine, despite grazing over portions of the property--has been prized by scientists and university students for research and nature study since the late seventies, when it was bequeathed to the Academy by Kenneth Bechtel, a prominent San Francisco insurance executive and a founder of the Bechtel Corporation. It has also been accessible to the public by reservation, although this fact has not been widely publicized and came as a great surprise to most of us. Also little-publicized was the Academy's decision to sell the Preserve. When the Press Democrat broke the news on February 18, a storm of public protest ensued, charging that the Academy is violating its commitment to the Bechtel family and ignoring its own mission statement that the Academy is "in all its activities, committed to fostering a spirit of scientific discovery and stewardship of the natural world." Opinion editorials followed, including a column in the San Francisco Examiner by Huey D. Johnson, who compared the proposed sale of Pepperwood to "the Louvre in Paris putting together a backroom deal to sell the Mona Lisa." The Chairman of Academy's Board of Trustees, W. Richard Bingham, responded to the outcry with a quick memorandum to its membership: "The Academy is exploring a creative plan to generate much needed funds through the sale of Pepperwood Ranch while at the same time preserving the original mission of this important bequest by creating a permanent conservation easement over most of this site." The "creative plan" has not yet taken shape, but the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District has been approached to see what help might be available from that source. The fate of Pepperwood is uncertain. There are questions regarding how a conservation easement might be administered, and how much of the property might end up in the hands of developers. Simply placing a conservation easement over some portion of the property probably would not satisfy the Academy's critics. A non-specific easement would not necessarily ensure public access, or limit agricultural impacts, nor would it necessarily perpetuate the Ranch's roles in research and education. As this newsletter goes to press, the Madrone Audubon Society has not yet taken a formal stand on this issue. Many of us hope the Academy's Board can be influenced to abandon its proposal to sell Pepperwood. To register your opinion, write to W. Richard Bingham, Chairman, Board of Trustees, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California 94118-4599.

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