Discoveries at Dangermond

Hear from Stewardship Manager Moses Katkowski about what makes Dangermond a special place.

The Dangermond Preserve is a historic piece of California’s natural heritage, which was a working cattle ranch from the Spanish land grant era until the Nature Conservancy purchased the land in 2017.

Today, the Preserve, still home to a herd of about 700 cattle, is managed by the Rangeland Management Team to strategically graze the Preserve. The cattle help maintain 5 different types of ecosystems across Dangermond and, through their grazing, help keep each ecosystem healthy, and reduce fuel loads and the risk of wildfires.

Moses Katkowski, Stewardship Manager

Moses Katkowski loves that his job allows him to be in the field almost every day. Above all, he enjoys the process of preserving the land, including implementing restoration projects and, over time, observing the land’s response. 

“Something that appeals to me about the job is just being here every day and thinking about what we can do to make this place better beyond the borders of the property.” 

Moses is interested in how the work being done at Dangermond Preserve can provide insight into more effective and efficient land management practices. An important part of his job has been implementing different cattle grazing techniques and monitoring the land’s health and fire resilience. This information helps the Rangeland Management Team better care for the Preserve’s ecosystems.

“I hope to make this Preserve, this land, better than I found it by using science, experience, and observation to make informed decisions."

Dangermond is not only home to diverse plants and wildlife, it is also a hub for restoration research. Researchers have been working to restore the land inhabited by both native and invasive plants and wildlife.

Laura Riege, Restoration Manager

Laura Riege enjoys contributing to the restoration efforts at the preserve. The part she likes most about her work is watching landscapes return to a healthy state.

“My favorite part is seeing it happen. Every single time I drive over the hills I get excited to see the oak trees grow."

She is also intrigued by the challenges presented by her projects. For the ice plant removal project in particular, the scale of restoration that is necessary is both daunting and exciting.

Laura finds her work at Dangermond to be incredibly rewarding. She remembers one important milestone on the oak restoration project, when she found out that native wildlife could bypass the fencing that protects young oaks from invasive wild pigs – a wildlife camera had captured a huge buck within the coast live oak restoration area! Later, a crew watched a bobcat slide right through one of the holes in the fencing.

These projects are restoring ecosystems across the Preserve and helping native plants and animals adapt to climate change. Over time, these projects will inform best practices for oak restoration and ice plant removal that can be applied across the Preserve and, eventually, throughout the state of California.

Dr. Scott Jasechko, Associate Professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Mangement

Dr. Scott Jasechko was drawn to water research because of his curiosity about the fate of freshwater and how the geology of natural areas influences where water goes. He particularly enjoys working on the Preserve, calling it an “awe-inspiring setting to do research.”

Scott is most interested in understanding changes in hydrology that happen during, or soon after, rainstorms. Safely accessing field sites to collect data shortly after storms can be challenging due to high water flows. Despite these circumstances, they put on their waterproof gear and gather data at streams across the Preserve to make predictions about water availability changes in the face of climate change.

The water in one consistently flowing stream at Dangermond, called Escondido Creek, is estimated to be at least 70 years old. This implies that water can move very slowly on its way to a creek, a powerful finding given that water availability in California is expected to decrease due to climate change. These results may indicate that streamflow is resilient to short and long term changes in precipitation due to climate change.

Learn more about Scott and his team's water research projects  here .

These stories encompass only a handful of the many ongoing research projects at the Preserve. All of this work has lasting impacts on the wellness of the Preserve and contributes to the solutions we can use to conserve wild and working lands impacted by climate change.

Check out  At Nature's Crossroads  to discover the Preserve's diverse habitat types, the multitude of species it supports, and its overall ecological significance.

Read more about the  Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve , its unique nature, and the importance of conserving this vibrant piece of land.

You can make an impactful contribution to these incredible research projects (and many more!) by donating to the Dangermond Preserve today.