Meet Wildlands Seawood Cape Preserve Stewards
Living on-site, Seawood Cape Preserve Stewards are able to provide continuous protection and oversight of the land, with work days often focused on activities to improve habitat conditions. A day in the life of our stewards may include thinning of conifers to promote healthy and biodiverse forests, eradicating nonnative plants, such as Himalayan blackberry, jubata grass, Portuguese heath, and English and cape ivies, or removing trash and illegally dumped items.
Q&A with Patrick Myers, Seawood Cape Preserve Steward
Patrick Myers has worked as a wildlife biologist for most of his professional career, with an emphasis on threatened and endangered species recovery. Born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland, Patrick earned his bachelor’s degree from Lynchburg College, Virginia, and his master’s degree from Utah State University.
Patrick has worked for federal and state agencies and non-governmental organizations at many locations throughout the western U.S. on projects to research, restore, and manage species such as the California condor, Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, Channel Islands fox, black-footed ferret, swift fox, western snowy plover, California least tern, desert tortoise, greater sage grouse, Newell’s shearwater, and Hawaiian petrel. For several years, Patrick worked for state wildlife agencies in the management of large mammal populations, including black bears and mule deer. In 2019, Patrick moved to northern California to work for the Yurok Tribe on their California condor restoration program, for which he served as lead field biologist and field crew supervisor.
Q: When did you join the Wildlands team?
A: I joined The Wildlands Conservancy in January 2024, but have been living at Seawood Cape Preserve and contributing to its protection and restoration since late 2020.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a preserve steward at Seawood Cape Preserve?
A: The infinite beauty. I consider it a privilege to spend enough time at Seawood Cape Preserve to observe and appreciate changes over time, both the natural phenomena that come with the different seasons, as well as the transformations that result from restoration projects, with habitat conditions that incrementally improve for the benefit of native species.
Q: Is there a special project or memory that stands out since you've been working for Wildlands?
A: There have been countless, incredibly special moments with wildlife, from bears to bald eagles to banana slugs. Some of my most rewarding memories at Seawood Cape, however, have come from the human visitors and from the breadth of their experiences. Experts from groups like local mycological, native plant, and Audubon societies have shared their specialized knowledges, while also reveling in the biodiversity and beauty of Seawood Cape Preserve, and extolling its protection from development and deforestation, which are all too prevalent along the California coast. Conversely, Preserve visitors young and old who are less familiar with our northern California flora, fauna, and fungi, whose eyes alight at special sightings and personal discoveries, always provide a renewed sense of wonder, excitement, inquiry, and joy.
Q: What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy nature?
A: My personal time in nature consists primarily of quiet observation and appreciation that allows for the enjoyment of animals, plants, and the environment as they naturally occur.
Q: What are some of your favorite past times / hobbies?
A: In addition to stewarding Seawood Cape Preserve, I also coach high school basketball and baseball, and greatly enjoy sailing, travel, music, and art.
Q&A with Tim Haywood, Seawood Cape Preserve Steward
Originally from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tim joined Wildlands in 2019 after spending 15 years as a Union Ironworker. Tim is a veteran of the United States Navy, a member of the Trinidad Community Emergency Response Team, and when he’s not working to restore the land at Seawood Cape Preserve, he enjoys capturing the beauty of the land through photography.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a preserve steward at Seawood Cape Preserve?
A: Working to restore the land to as close to natural as possible.
Q: Is there a special project or memory that stands out since you've been working for Wildlands?
A: Spearheading the cleanup of several longtime "community dump sites" located on the preserve.
Q: What are some of your favorite wildlife and/or plant species local to Seawood Cape Preserve?
A: Stellars/California Sea lions, Gray Whales, Ospreys, Black Bears, Chanterelle/King Bolete/Chicken of the Woods mushrooms, Fetid Adder's Tongue, Douglas Iris, Pacific Blackberries, Salmon Berries, Thimble Berries, Evergreen and Deciduous Huckleberry
Q: What's your favorite season at Seawood Cape Preserve?
A: Fall
Q: What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy nature?
Hiking, standup paddle boarding, and kayaking
Q: What are some of your favorite pastimes and hobbies?
Edible mushrooms, plant, and fruit foraging, photography, and beach combing with my dog.
