EMERALD POINTE BIOLOGICAL OPEN SPACE

NEWS ALERT! The SDHC closed escrow on the Emerald Pointe open space preserve in October 2008. SDHC owns the preserve and is the long-term habitat steward for the sensitive habitat and species on the land.

The Emerald Pointe open space preserve consists of 10.1 acres of upland habitat in the City of Carlsbad, south of Palomar Airport Road and east of Aviara Parkway. The site consists primarily of Diegan coastal sage scrub, with recorded California gnatcatcher presence within the past year. One sensitive plant species is also known to occupy the site, the San Diego thorn mint, isolated to a small portion of the preserve (0.03 acre). Approximately 0.5 acre of Diegan coastal sage scrub is undergoing restoration as part of a five-year mitigation program by a contractor to Saddleview LLC; however, the SDHC started our active stewardship activities in Fall 2008 for the remaining 9.6 acres of open space. In addition to routine stewardship activities (patrols, trash removal, sign and fence checks, weeding, community outreach and education), the SDHC will survey for the San Diego thorn mint annually, beginning in Spring 2009, and will also conduct protocol California gnatcatcher surveys every three years. On-going stewardship and species surveys will help to monitor the status of the preserve and ensure the viability of the site for sustaining the sensitive habitat, plants and wildlife through adaptive management. The Emerald Point preserve abuts the 8-acre Encinas Creek preserve that SDHC will also be stewarding beginning in 2012 after its five-year restoration program is complete.

Species of Special Interest: San Diego Thorn Mint, California Gnatcatcher.

Place your cursor over a marked area for a brief description of the habitat. Click the map for more information.