Introduction

The BLM-managed Cotoni Coast Dairies property is being proposed for National Monument status, but thus far proposed legislation lacks language typical in such proclamations that recognizes the natural and geologic features which make this place special. This brief proposes such language as reviewed by the region’s experts in this area and its natural resources.

Methodology

The following language about the Cotoni Coast Dairies property contains information about natural and geologic features of national significance as reviewed for accuracy by regional experts familiar with the property. Natural resources presented here include plant and animal species that are found in few other places. Bird species are included if they are suspected of breeding on the property. Because the property has historically been in private ownership and biological investigation has been largely prohibited, this list is not meant to be exhaustive. Experts who reviewed the proposed language for their areas of expertise are included in Appendix 1.

 Proposed Language

“Because of its history, topographic features, and water resources, Cotoni Coast Dairies is a property notable for its species-rich, diverse habitats as well as its sensitive plants and wildlife. The property is located in one of the richest biodiversity hot spots in North America. Many species of plants and wildlife found on the property are listed as rare, sensitive, threatened or endangered under Federal, State, and local laws. These include: Point Reyes horkelia, Choris’ popcornflower, Santa Cruz manzanita, steelhead, coho salmon, California red-legged frog, western pond turtle, white-tailed kite, northern harrier, olive-sided flycatcher, Bryant’s savannah sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, tricolored blackbird, San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat, and American badger (for a complete list, see Appendix 2).

Cotoni Coast Dairies is replete with wild and diverse landscapes and climatic micro-habitats that support unique biotic assemblages. These include deep, riparian canyons containing seven nearly undeveloped watersheds and clear-running streams that have been rarely impacted by humans. Ridges contain intact lowland maritime chaparral, a threatened and species-rich, fire adapted ecosystem endemic to low elevations along the California coast. The property’s four marine terraces contain an ecological staircase providing a unique localized profile of ancient soil development and evolution. Each of these terraces contains sensitive and unique assemblages of coastal prairie grasslands, of which more than 40 types have been documented from the vicinity. The extensive coastal scrub on the property includes species-rich rocky outcrops and large areas inaccessible to humans. The property contains numerous wetlands and springs, which are buffered by the maritime environment and fed by healthy watersheds that provide spawning, breeding, and foraging habitat for fish, amphibian and aquatic reptile species including steelhead, California red-legged frog and western pond turtle. The rare ecosystems of redwood, Shreve oak, and Monterey pine forests on the property are globally significant. The relative isolation of the property provides core wildlife habitat to a particularly diverse mammalian carnivore community including mountain lion, American badger, gray fox, long-tailed weasel, bobcat, and coyote. The grasslands on the property likewise support foraging habitat for an unusually abundant and diverse raptor community including: white-tailed kite, golden eagle, northern harrier, red-tailed hawk, ferruginous hawk, American kestrel, American peregrine falcon, short-eared owl, barn owl, and burrowing owl.”

Appendix 1: Expert Reviewers

These persons provided review of the proposed language for their areas of expertise.

Name	Expertise, Affiliation
Mark Allaback	Certified Wildlife biologist Biosearch Associates
Don Alley	D.W. ALLEY & Associates Certified Fisheries Scientist
Sandra Baron	Ecologist
Phil Brown	President Santa Cruz Bird Club
Dr. Don Croll	Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California at Santa Cruz
Dr. Gage Dayton	Ecologist University of California at Santa Cruz
Carleton Eyster	Coastal Ecologist
Steve Gerow	Past President and County Records Keeper Santa Cruz Bird Club
D. Kim Glinka	Wildlife Biologist
Dan Grout	Wildlife Biologist Grout Wildlife Research
Brett Hall	California Native Plant Program Director UC Santa Cruz Arboretum
Grey Hayes, PhD	Botanist/Restoration Ecologist
Kim Hayes	Biologist/Conservation Lands Manager
Dr. David Kossack	San Andreas Land Conservancy
Kerry Kriger, PhD	Executive Director SAVE THE FROGS!
Inger Marie Laursen	Wildlife Ecologist
Dr. Bruce Lyon	Avian Ecologist University of California at Santa Cruz
Bryan Mori	Certified Wildlife Biologist Bryan Mori Biological Consulting Watsonville, CA
Dylan Neubauer	Botanist
Elliot Schoenig	Herpetologist
Lisa Sheridan	Conservation Officer Santa Cruz Bird Club
Dr. Dean Taylor	Botanist California Academy of Sciences
Jim West	Botanist

 

Appendix 2: Sensitive Species of the Cotoni Coast Dairies Property.

Animals
Common name	Latin name	Rarity Status
California red-legged frog	Rana draytonii	Federally Threatened CA Species of Special Concern
Coho salmon	Oncorhynchus kisutch	Federally and State Endangered (central California coast ESU)
Steelhead	Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus	Federally Threatened (central California coast DPS)
White-tailed kite	Elanus leucurus	CA Fully Protected (nesting)
Bryant’s savannah sparrow	Passerculus sandwichensis alaudinus	CA Species of Special Concern
Ferruginous hawk	Buteo regalis	California Watch List (wintering)
Grasshopper sparrow	Ammodramus savannarum	CA Species of Special Concern (nesting)
Northern harrier	Circus cyaneus	CA Species of Special Concern (nesting)
Olive-sided flycatcher	Contopus cooperi	CA Species of Special Concern (nesting)
Tricolored blackbird	Agelaius tricolor	CA Species of Special Concern (nesting colony)
American badger	Taxidea taxus	CA Species of Special Concern
San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat	Neotoma fuscipes annectens	CA Species of Special Concern
Western pond turtle	Actinemys marmorata	CA Species of Special Concern

 

Plants
Common name	Latin name	Rarity Status
Choris’ popcornflower	Plagiobothrys chorisianus var. chorisianus	California Rare Plant Rank (CRPR) List 1B
Point Reyes horkelia	Horkelia marinensis	CRPR List 1B
Santa Cruz Manzanita	Arctostaphylos andersonii	CRPR List 1B
California bottlebrush grass	Elymus californicus	CRPR List 4
Michael’s rein orchid	Piperia michaelii	CRPR List 4
Bolander’s goldenaster	Heterotheca sessiliflora subsp. bolanderi	Locally rare1
Brownie thistle	Cirsium quercetorum	Locally rare1
Cascades oregon grape	Berberis nervosa	Locally rare1
Coast barberry	Berberis pinnata subsp. pinnata	Locally rare1
Coastal larkspur	Delphinium decorum subsp. decorum	Locally rare1
Common muilla	Muilla maritime	Locally rare1
Elmer fescue	Festuca elmeri	Locally rare1
Fire reedgrass	Calamagrostis koelerioides	Locally rare1
Hoary bowlesia	Bowlesia incana	Locally rare1
Narrow leaved mule ears	Wyethia angustifolia	Locally rare1
Round woolly marbles	Psilocarphus tenellus	Locally rare1
Salmon berry	Rubus spectabilis	Locally rare1
Woolly goat chicory	Agoseris hirsuta	Locally rare1

 

¹ Locally rare species were not included in the suggested language but may deserve mention; these species are recognized by experts as deserving of protection because of their local rarity.

Post Scripts:

• I submitted the above to representatives and agencies responsible for National Monument designation including the Obama Administration, Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Senators Boxer and Feinstein, Congresswomen Capps and Eshoo.
• Letters of support for this proposal included with submission from the Trust for Public Lands, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, Audubon California, California Native Plant Society, Sierra Club, Valley Women’s Club of San Lorenzo Valley, Save the Frogs, and the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County