Year-End Reflections from the Sonoma Coast
Jill Adams, Ranger and Liz Sanders, Trail Steward
The Wildlands Conservancy
Jenner Headlands Preserve. Photo by Jill Adams / The Wildlands Conservancy
We have crossed into the darker, quieter, and more reflective time of year, and we have taken the opportunity to recount the gifts and challenges, often one and the same, that 2023 presented. Human fortitude, teamwork, and the importance of water are what come to mind.
As we enter another voluminous rainy season, we are viscerally reminded of the wave after wave of atmospheric river that kept many of us indoors — or outdoors— battening down the hatches and brushing up on techniques for maintaining ranch roads. We saw the south-facing section of our barn roof get blown off in multiple directions with some pieces landing a great distance from the red barn. From this, we experienced many offers of support and expressions of awe and appreciation for the historic building. Many of you offered to lend a hand. While we are still in the process of getting this necessary repair done, we greatly appreciate everyone’s willingness to jump in.
The volume of rain and snow that pulled California out of drought conditions statewide brought us incredible displays of wildflowers, yes, statewide! We hope you were able to visit any one of our preserves throughout the state, and we particularly hope you got to walk the one-mile Wildflower Loop Trail at Jenner Headlands Preserve that meanders through our serpentine grassland. This unique habitat is home to threatened and endangered plant communities and is host to tarantula hawks, velvet ants, native bees, and small mammals, which in turn feed the migrating and resident raptors and songbirds hunting above the pastoral hills.
The summer was kind and graced our shoulders with sunshine and life-giving fog. So much of the biodiversity found at Jenner Headlands Preserve relies on summertime fog, which seems to have been in decline in recent years. This summer was a gift to many species such as our beloved Coast Redwood and perhaps a new-to-you species, the Armored Fog Lichen, or Niebla homalea. One of Sonoma County’s lichenologists, Shelly Benson, has led visitors on multiple informative lichen hikes here at JHP where we learned about fog lichens, their dependance on summer fog, and their need for undisturbed rock outcrops. You can contribute to her iNaturalist project and learn more here.
Autumn on the coast was gentle, her gorgeous sunsets reminding us that the cycle will soon start again.
We’ve traveled through our festivals of harvest and thankfulness and celebrated with family and friends. As the year prepares to start anew, we find ourselves at the perfect moment to celebrate this beautiful planet.