Pedro Point Headlands Have Come a Long Way

Hundreds of people over the past few years have worked very hard restoring the eroded slopes of Pedro Point, a 246-acre park that hosts a habitat now rare along the California coast. Invasive plants and trees — like French Broom, Monterey pines and eucalyptus — have been removed to give way to coastal prairie and shrub land that’s home to dozens of species of native plants and wildlife. Still, there's plenty more work to be done on the windswept bluffs overlooking Devil’s Slide.

A recent article in Bay Nature magazine features this tremendous undertaking by taking a look at the transformation of the landscape and Pedro Point’s varied and interesting history from when the Headlands served as the stomping grounds of a motorcycle club in the 1960s to when the Pacifica Land Trust took over the land in 1995.

The article also credits the Devil’s Slide tunnel project for potentially bringing spillover funds for parking and improved trail access and recognizes the habitat restoration at Pedro Point as coming largely thanks to a dedicated, grassroots group: the Pedro Point Headlands stewardship project, which was formed in 2009. This project is sponsored by the Pacifica Land Trust (in coordination with the Pedro Point Community Association) and is funded by a grant to the Land Trust from the California Coastal Conservancy.

“This place is pretty undiscovered, and it’s pretty wild,” says Lynn Adams, president of the Pacifica Beach Coalition who is an independent contractor hired by the Pacifica Land Trust to be the Headlands stewardship project coordinator. “Over the past three years, we’ve become little watchdogs, and we’ve really started to get a handle on changing the [vegetation] back to how it’s supposed to be.”

More than 500 people have participated in restoration efforts over the past three years, says Adams. In addition to dedicated workdays to remove invasive plants, spread soil, and plant natives, volunteers host guided hikes and local experts lead bird walks.

“It was great when the area first became a park, but we realized that without stewardship, it’s useless to people,” says Adams in the article. “Now, as it becomes more accessible, it’s getting a much higher profile and people want to protect it.”

Read the full article in Bay Nature here.

How Can You Help the Pedro Point Headlands?

The next big workday at the Pedro Point Headlands is on Earth Day, April 20, 2013.

“The tunnel is open, 'old' Highway 1 over Devil's Slide is now car free, and there are some invasive plants calling our names," said Adams. "How about being one of the first people to help restore the habitat along the old roadway before the people and the bikes gain access? So many invasives are growing like crazy here."

Volunteers should meet at 8:45 a.m. at the Pedro Point Firehouse and expect to work until 11:30 a.m. All volunteers must sign a waiver and carpool up to the Headlands. Bring your work tools and work gloves and wear long sleeves and long pants. Sunscreen is advised. Projects for the day include removing French Broom, Echium, Pampas Grass from the Devils Slide area, hiking the Headlands and helping water the newly planted plots on the coastal bluff and installing trail markers on the Pedro Point Headlands. Then head to the Pacifica Beach Coalition’s Earth Day Festival from 11:30 to 3 p.m. at the Pacifica State Beach.

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