Q&A with Ranger Jill Adams
Ranger Jill Adams at Jenner Headlands Preserve
If you’ve ever joined a sunset hike or volunteered for a land stewardship day at Jenner Headlands Preserve then you’ve likely had the chance to meet Jill and be inspired by her love for nature and passion for protecting biodiversity.
Jill Adams, preserve ranger for the Sonoma Coast, began working for Wildlands in 2018 as Jenner Headlands Preserve was preparing to open to the public. Since the beginning, Jill has been a leader in building community for Wildlands. Continue reading to learn more about Jill’s experiences as a ranger and her connection to nature.
What inspired you to become a ranger and work in land conservation?
I have toggled between biological field research positions and organic farming for most of my adult life. Serving as a ranger at Jenner Headlands Preserve and the Estero Americano Coast Preserve beautifully melded those two fields into one position. All of it prioritizes land and water conservation, using best practices to steward land, behaving with future generations (human and non-human) at the heart of decision making, and allows for an active life spent mostly outdoors.
How do you connect to nature and what impact does that have on your life?
Working for two summers on the behavior crew on a Mexican Spotted Owl project I really honed my observation skills and my patience, both of which have only increased with time and age.
It is so rewarding when secrets of the natural world are revealed through that patience and quiet observation. Being able to take those anecdotes, stories, and interpretation and use them to help others connect more deeply with their environment makes it that much richer.
What has been the best part about being a ranger for Wildlands at Jenner Headlands preserve?
The best part of being a ranger at Jenner has been getting to know the landscape intimately through the seasons. The changing of the bird song, the way the smells change — I’ve been fortunate to spend nearly 6 years of my precious life studying and stewarding this corner of the earth. What a gift it has been.
What do you love most about living on the Sonoma Coast?
Watching the Russian River breathe the fog in and out of its valley. Watching the fog cascade like a slow motion waterfall down the bluffs above Goat Rock.
What's your favorite season at Jenner Headlands Preserve?
Springtime. The whole earth seems to erupt with life and color and song. It's not too dusty yet, hills are still green, fire risk is low, and the darkness of winter continues to lift.
Where are you from originally?
I grew up in a suburb of Chicago with big front and back yards, a neighborhood park across the street, and regularly visiting forest and nature preserves in the area. My dad was from Maine and we made the trip out there as often as we could to visit family, sometimes over winter holidays or for our shared July birthday with my grandfather on the farm. One of my sisters and I were especially drawn to the wildness of Maine and we were allowed to travel there together to spend a month or more a couple of summers. We had a lot of freedom to wander through the woods, go creek stomping, hike along the old railroad bed, pick wild berries, and hope for a moose sighting around every bend in the trail.
Do you have a meaningful memory from when you were young, connecting you to nature?
Catching frogs in Jackson Pond in Maine with my sister and Grandma, the first time my sister Jodi and I flew out there alone.
What is your earliest nature memory?
A preschool outing with my class, and my mom was out with us. We were walking slowly along a trail picking things up and answering the question "life or no life?" I remember my mom and I referencing that outing multiple times throughout my childhood and early adulthood. A sweet memory.
Do you have a favorite special memory that you've experienced during your time working for Wildlands?
As much as I love Jenner, one of my favorite aspects of working for Wildlands has been the ability to travel to several of our other 25 outstanding preserves. The opportunities I had to visit our Eastern Sierra preserves, both for personal time and for work travel, have greatly enriched my life. I was incredibly fortunate to spend a couple of days with botanists Tim Krantz, Ann Howald, and Tim Messick at our Bodie Hills Preserve, documenting the diversity of plant species growing there. Certainly a highlight from that trip was when Ann identified a new county record of the teeniest lupine I'd ever seen — the lilliput lupine. Suddenly it was everywhere we looked!
Do you have anything you'd like to share with the local community to inspire people to connect to nature at Jenner or to get involved with the work?
There is much to be gained from connecting with the land, participating in the ongoing stewardship of the land, and forming a community with others who are passionate about the long-term conservation efforts of the land. Building the volunteer program at Jenner Headlands has been incredibly rewarding and inspiring.
Just this past month we had a crew of folks from the local chapter of the California Native Plant Society (Milo Baker) come out and spend the morning with us pulling goat grass and learning about the diversity of life that is threatened by this invasive grass. I can't tell you how many times they exclaimed how peaceful it was, how beautiful it was, and how much fun it was to spend the morning with like-minded folks, engrossed in both conversation and conservation. Their work has a tangible impact on the land. Maybe not all 5600 acres of it, but on that knoll, for the incredibly rich diversity of native plants that are being invaded by goat grass, their work had a serious impact.
What are some of your favorite wildlife or plant species local to Jenner?
I have become infatuated with the native grasses that grow so abundantly in our serpentine grasslands. Grasses, sedges, and rushes have felt a bit more elusive to me but this past year in particular, with multiple grassland surveys under my belt, my eyes see them quite a bit more distinctly than ever before.
Our native California oat grass, the ‘redwoods of our grassland’, are long-lived, deep-rooted perennials, and one of the easier grasses for beginners to identify. In addition, Idaho fescue, as its flower head opens and the stem matures to a rich blue-gray-maroon, deserves a place in every native plant garden! And if you have a spot in your garden that has a bit more moisture in the summertime, be sure to add in the most elegant and graceful tufted hairgrass.
Any favorite wildlife sightings you experienced at the Preserve?
Some dear friends were staying with me overnight at the office and we were awoken at three in the morning by loud shrieks coming from right outside the back door. It took us some time to locate exactly where the sound was coming from — but with flashlights, and peering out the back window, we watched as two badgers faced off, kicking dirt behind themselves before charging ahead at each other like bulls in a ring.
What is your favorite quote?
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" — Mary Oliver
