Field Day: Teravana
By Gideon Strauss, WELLKIND Forestry Intern
Gideon Strauss was an intern for WELLKIND Forestry during our fall 2021 session, exploring the effects of climate change in Sonoma County and other local environmental issues.
As WELLKIND Forestry interns, we are taken on education field trips to see what actions we can take to benefit the environment around us. On October 30th, 2021, all of the WELLKIND interns took a trip down to Teravana.
What Is Teravana?
Teravana, a wildlife/nature reserve located just north of San Francisco, is an amazing place to see where human hands meet nature's roots. Teravana’s goal is to make an area for people to retreat to in times of stress and reconnect with nature—as their slogan describes, A Retreat To Remember Human Nature.
The problems started coming after a fire a couple of years ago. The city is not allowing for a lot of people to stay on their properties due to road capacity. They are afraid of a repeat of the events that happened during the Paradise fire in 2018.
Due to these fears, Teravana has an extremely hard time building the structures they need in order to have a functioning facility for people to go to. Water and soil quality are closely monitored in Teravana in order to sustain a healthy ecosystem and strong biodiversity.
Wildlife in Teravana
Teravana houses a lot of wildlife, including Mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, rodents and some cows that are “Free Range” on the 3 properties that surround the retreat site. The keystone species of Teravana are mainly the bobcats, as they keep rodent and deer populations under control. Unfortunately, the property’s history as a hunting ground meant that the bobcat population was decimated. In order for their wildlife population to recover from this, WELLKIND must keep the ecosystem extremely clean and healthy.
What To Do?
Teravana’s management has started testing soil and water quality to ensure the shelter and water that keystone species, like our friends the bobcats, have are clean and healthy for them to drink and sleep in. While the other WELLKIND interns and I were in Teravana, we performed both soil and water tests.
Water Testing
When we first began to do water testing, I was a bit nervous. The dock I was to take samples water on was very unstable, and as a 220+ pound male, I'm not exactly small in size. This led the dock to be extremely shaky, as I reached my hand down into the murky water.
We were testing to see what the water quality is like, and how well it can support aquatic life. This test requires us to measure the pH of the water (acidity), the dissolved oxygen level, nitrate and phosphate concentrations, and coliform tests. We measured these tests in parts per million (PPM). These tests are necessary to measure for a healthy living environment for aquatic life.
Locations
We took samples from two parts of the pond. The first was a small outlet that came from a running stream coming from the hill, and the second was the dock close to the center of the lake. Testing these two areas would simulate a creature walking to come get a drink, and any life that was in the lake already.
Dock Results
The dock test results came back as mostly fair, with the water temperature measuring just over 60 degrees F; 60 percent dissolved oxygen saturation (Fair); zero nitrate particles per million, which was not listed on the chart used to measure, but we assume is good. PH Levels were just about 6.5, which leans towards the acidic side, but is still considered excellent. Our Phosphate test came back at 2 PPM, and the coliform (or E. coli) test came back negative (Thank god).
Outlet Results
Our outlet test (to simulate an animal stopping for a drink) came back mostly good. Water temperature was the exact same 60 degrees Fahrenheit as the dock sample. The dissolved oxygen level, however, was substantially higher, hitting 80 percent saturation. This is considered excellent. The nitrate test came back as 0 PPM again, which is excellent, and our pH indicator was once again at 6.5 (slightly acidic but excellent). Phosphate came back as 1 PPM, which is also considered excellent, and fortunately, the coliform test came back negative.
Conclusions
The results of these tests were positive overall, and although there is some improvement that can be made, it still is completely suitable to sustain life. We are still waiting on the soil tests to come in, but a positive water result shows us that there are good chances that the wildlife population will be able to flourish in Teravana in the next couple of years, as it recovers from drought and increases its wildlife population.