A mountain lion was sighted at 4:30pm today in the area of Bernal Ave at Ocean Ave in Moss Beach. If you see a mountain lion, contact the Sheriff’ at 911. or Sgt. R. Johnson at Moss Beach substation 573-2844.

A neighbor told Coastsider that there was an alleged sighting on Airport a few weeks ago.

The Montara / Moss Beach community is one big step closer to solutions for its long-standing water problems following Coastal Commission approval Wednesday of the Public Works Plan, Phase I, proposed by Montara Water and Sanitary District in January 2006. The approved plan includes the new Alta Vista Well, bringing 150 gallons per minute of safe and reliable water to meet community needs; an additional 1,100,000 gallons of water storage for emergencies; and additional treatment for water drawn from wells at the Half Moon Bay Airport.

The Alta Vista Well was commissioned in October 2007 and has been supplying high-quality water to Montara and Moss Beach customers during an environmental testing period required by the Coastal Commission. Based on those studies, which showed no adverse affects on nearby wetlands and riparian areas, the District may use this new well to provide reliable supplies that meet the needs of existing customers in the District.

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The San Mateo County League for Coastside Protection (LCP) will hold its Third Annual Fall Beach Clean-up at Francis Beach, at the end of Kelly Ave in Half Moon Bay.  This is a great time after the Pumpkin Festival and the first real rains of the season to enjoy the beach in the fall weather, help protect local birds from debris and make our beaches even more beautiful.

The event is on November 15th from 10 AM until noon at Francis State Park.  Free parking and picnic tables are available for this event but you need to get there early.  Outland Java Company is generously providing coffee to support our efforts and LCP will be giving away event hats to all the volunteers.  Sweatshirts will be for sale.

We recommend wearing closed-toed shoes and sun block.  High school students who volunteer will receive Community Service credit.  For more information about who we are, please go to http://www.lcp.sanmateo.org or call Dana Kimsey at (650) 726-1309

Looking forward to having you join us at the beach,

Dana Kimsey

You’re invited to a public meeting at the Harbor House in Princeton on Wednesday Nov 12, from 7 to 8:30pm, to view a draft model of a proposed outdoor interpretive exhibitfor the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. It will be located in the parking lot adjacent to the site of the future visitor center. The Harbor House is located at 346 Princeton Avenue in Princeton.  

The draft interpretive exhibit represents the low, medium and high tide zones of the reef with plant and animal species authentically sized, colored and located.  The exhibit will serve as a gateway to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve supporting informal individual and family visits, formal education, as well as launching the tours of docent-led school groups to the Moss Beach reef. 

Visitors will learn about the hierarchy of the reef from low to high tide inhabitants and learn about the habits of individual species. The Exhibit will be fabricated in concrete and be fully colored. A rubberized surface will surround the exhibit to create an accessible climbable structure. An interpretive sign located independently of the exhibit, will identify the species and describe the tidal zones. 

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	Vote Count	Percentage
CECILY HARRIS	15,095	59.5%
KENNETH C. NITZ	10,256	40.5%

 

MROSD has issued a press press release with some details:

Cecily Harris was elected to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Board of Directors by voters last night over incumbent Kenneth C. Nitz. Harris earned 59.5 percent of the vote from the constituents in El Granada, Half Moon Bay, Montara, Moss Beach, Redwood City, San Carlos and Woodside. The District’s Board of Directors will adopt a resolution certifying her election at their Dec. 10 meeting. Nitz earned 40.5 percent of the votes. [...]

The District is divided into seven geographic wards each represented by a board member elected to a four-year term. Nitz was elected to represent ward seven on the District’s board in 1996. He completed three consecutive terms, running unopposed in 2000 and 2004.

Harris, a San Carlos resident, became the first opponent to challenge Nitz’s board seat. She is a Financial Services Manager with the San Mateo County Parks Department and served for nine years as a San Carlos Parks and Recreation Commissioner. Issues she is interested in include single and multiple use trails, interpretive programs, and natural resource protection.

The Coastside Land Trust will hold our monthly Francis Beach restoration event this coming Saturday, October 25, 12:30 to 3 pm. We’ll identify native and invasive plants, discuss the strategies for fall seed dispersal, and selectively remove invasive plants to help our natives thrive.

Look for coyote cotton on the Coastside

Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilulari) covers our coastal hillsides and terraces. This time of year—late fall—female coyote bushes release their seeds. Each seed is attached to a white, feathery ball of filament so light in weight that it is very easily blown by the wind. Large mats of these seeds can be seen around the base of the bushes or where the wind has blown them into drifts.

Late fall is the time of year when the majority of our native plant species release their seeds. The first rain has come, and with the next rain the seeds will begin their journey to sprouting and growing roots through the cool winter months in preparation for the warmer spring days, when we will see them emerge from the ground as seedlings.

Many of our native plants are annuals, which means they survive only one year; others are perennials and live for many years. Because of the one-year life cycle of the annuals they are more vulnerable to seasonal drought and predation. Some annuals have developed a strategy to keep their seeds from sprouting the first year, just in case that year is a bad year for success. This multi-year strategy creates what we call the “seed bank,” meaning that even if there are not seedlings of a species this year, they can emerge in subsequent years.

Please join us. Check in at the Francis State Beach kiosk at Kelly and the Pacific Ocean, and proceed north on the maintenance road to the maintenance sheds. Our properties are on the east side of the maintenance road. Refreshments, good humor and appreciation are provided for all ages and abilities.

Jo Chamberlain

A mountain lion was struck by a car on Highway 92 about half a mile west of the reservoir.  The driver was unhurt, but the mountain Lion, is thought to be injured and was last seen entering the woods north of Highway 92.

Join guided hikes by naturalists of the Pedro Point Headlands in Pacifica. Pedro Point Headlands is one of the jewels of the San Mateo coast.

The Pacifica Land Trust & the Pedro Point Community Assoc. present a special opportunity to explore the Pedro Point Headlands and/or enjoy an evening at the Pedro Point Firehouse,

• When: Sunday, Oct. 19 Hikes - 1pm on, 5:30 pm - dinner at the Firehouse


• What: Guided hikes, Pedro Point Headlands; Fund-raising dinner, Pedro Point Firehouse


• Who: Pacifica Land Trust/Pedro Point Community Association


• Where: Meet at Castle Kitchen and Bath for hikes. Dinner is at the Firehouse, Danmann Ave.

Acquired by the City of Pacifica and the California Coastal Conservancy over 10 years ago, Pedro Point Headlands is intended to become part of the Golden Gate National Park (GGNRA) and a crucial trail nexus tying together the southern Corral de Tierra-McNee Ranch State Park complex with Pacifica’s coastal trail and other GGNRA park lands. Although still not part of the GGNRA, Pedro Point Headlands is increasingly used by the public as a recreational resource.

Find out more about the unique Site Stewardship opportunities that are available in protecting and enjoying this beautiful open space, home to several unique micro-climates and ecosystems with rare and threatened plant and animal species including the Montara Mountain manzanita, the San Francisco garter snake, and the Mission Blue butterfly.

There will be three hikes through the trails of the Headlands, each led by a local naturalist:  3-hour hike, 1:00 to 4:00; 2-hour hike, 2:00 to 4:00; 1-hour hike, 3:00 to 4:00. Dinner. 5:30 pm

Donation: $25/person includes the dinner and your choice of hike.
Hike only: $5/person or $20/family

The governor has cut funding for the program that monitors water quality in San Mateo County’s creeks and beaches, report the County Times.

County officials learned of the $35,000 budget cut this week as part of a million-dollar line-item veto the governor exacted on the state’s entire ocean water-quality monitoring program, funded on a year-to-year basis through an appropriation facilitated by the Department of Public Health.[...]

State nonprofit group Heal the Bay won’t be able to collect crucial beach closure data for its annual “Beach Bummer” report, which this spring listed Half Moon Bay’s Venice Beach as one of the most polluted beaches in the state for the second year in a row.

Venice Beach is one of the locations that will lose its county monitors under the new regime. Other locations north of Half Moon Bay, such as Pillar Point Harbor and the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, will still receive testing thanks to the San Mateo County Resource Conservation District, an independent agency that recently obtained a one-year grant to coordinate a posse of “citizen scientists” who will perform water-quality tests throughout the midcoast area.

The cuts were retroactive to July 1, and the county must find $105,000 to cover the testing it has already been done.