Moss Beach's Fitzgerald Marine Reserve celebrates 50th year as refuge

As one of the 200 volunteer docents trained to lead groups through the reserve, Slomka has been sharing the reserve’s rich human and geological history with visitors for years. As the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve celebrates its 50th year as a marine life refuge, Slomka and the many volunteers dedicated to sharing the reserve’s unique display of sea creatures and coastline are aiming to recognize the many individuals and agencies that have worked to protect it over the years.

The late naturalist Bob Breen, former San Mateo County Supervisor James Fitzgerald and several public agencies and community organizations ranging from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to the San Mateo County Parks Foundation have all had a hand in preserving the refuge and making it accessible to the public. And together with the San Mateo County Parks Department, the nonprofit is hosting a celebration of those efforts Saturday at the place that has drawn so many to the ocean.

“There’s a lot of people who are going at this from different angles and different perspectives,” said Slomka. “It really does require a village.”

Slomka said the land’s human history is believed to be hundreds of years old, dating back to when the Ohlone people lived in the region. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, commercial and residential development took shape along the coast, in part due to the construction of a railroad bringing people to destinations south of San Francisco, he explained.

Slomka said establishments like Weinke’s Moss Beach Hotel and Nye’s Reef Restaurant brought many to the land that is now the reserve, noting the practice of harvesting abalone and cooking them at a restaurant for dinner wasn’t uncommon. It wasn’t until the late 1960s that efforts to restrict removal of marine life from the land gained traction, said Slomka, who added that Breen, the refuge’s first park ranger, was among those dedicated to preserving the land extending from Montara Point to what is now known as Mavericks Beach as a refuge.

In the land’s first year as a refuge, some 800 citations were issued to visitors attempting to take wildlife from the reserve, noted Slomka. He said in the years since the land became a refuge in 1969, other efforts to preserve coastal biodiversity became law through the 1990 Marine Resources Protection Act and 1999 Marine Life Protection Act. In 1985, Breen founded the Friends of the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve to spread the word about its history and the wide array of marine species that call the reserve home, he said.

A destination for field trips for everyone from elementary school students to college students studying marine biology, the reserve has an active tour schedule, said Slomka. He added that the tours are timed around low tide, which gives visitors a chance to observe sea anemones, hermit crabs and, on rare occasions, octopus, among other creatures. For Slomka and many other volunteers at the reserve, seeing visitors get excited about learning about what the reserve has to offer is one of his favorite parts about spending time there.

“To me, that’s the most satisfying thing,” he said. “It’s really wonderful when the kids’ eyes light up, they see this stuff and they really relate to it.”

Slomka said a recent San Mateo County study pegging the refuge as a high-risk area in the face of sea level rise has further motivated those invested in the refuge to introduce new visitors to its biodiversity. Though specific projections of climate change’s effect on the refuge remain to be seen, Slomka expected sea level rise to affect the types of species that call it home. The Half Moon Bay resident said he’s spoken with many living just a few miles away from the reserve who haven’t made it there yet, and hoped Saturday’s event and another event slated for the fall and set to recognize the Ohlone’s contributions to the land will shed even more light on what many consider to be a very special place.

“We really want to love it while we’ve got it and we want to introduce new people to it,” he said.

The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve’s 50th Anniversary “Gathering of the Stewards” event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Moss Beach’s Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, 200 Nevada Ave. Visitors can park at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 475 California Ave., and shuttles will be available to and from the parking lot. Visit parks.smcgov.org/fmr-50 to register for the event and for more information.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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