Watsonville Wetlands Watch
Current Restoration Projects
Tarplant Hill
Watsonville Wetlands Watch has begun a three-year effort to restore and enhance the Tarplant Hill parcel, work made possible by a $35,000 grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. WWW is committed to maintaining the site in perpetuity, providing conditions that will create a self-sustaining native habitat.
Preservation of the grassy knoll was guaranteed when Watsonville Wetlands Watch bought the property in 2006 with a $475,000 grant from the state Wildlife Conservation Board. This six acres of native coastal prairie is essential to the recovery of the endangered Santa Cruz tarplant.
Tarplant Hill is surrounded by hundreds of homes built in the past few years between Ohlone Parkway and Struve Slough in Watsonville. Preserving the site ensures it will remain the home of several rare and endangered species beside the Santa Cruz tarplant, including the threatened California red-legged frog, and the burrowing owl. Other species likely to be found on the property include marsh and northern harrier, short-eared owl, white-tailed kite, peregrine falcon, loggerhead shrike, and nesting cinnamon teal.
Other Restoration Projects
- Restoration of coastal prairie and wet meadow habitat on the Watsonville Sloughs Ecological Reserve at West Struve Slough.
- Restoration of the Fitz Fresh farm property
- Restoration of the Tsisan Sia wetland at the Watsonville Charter School of the Arts
- Restoration of the ESHAs at Pajaro Valley High School.
