Presented by Elridge Landon

Pine Hill Preserve is a cooperative conservation effort between 10 different agencies protecting areas in western El Dorado County that host the rare plants of the gabbro soils of the Rescue series. The Preserve was created to protect the 5 plants with federal protections (4 federally endangered and 1 federally threatened), and also actively manages for 3 BLM sensitive species. In addition to our rare plants, Pine Hill Preserve also hosts nearly 10% of California’s native and exotic flora in about 5,000 acres. All of the species under management seem to do best in areas of disturbance where the shrub layer that dominates much of the Preserve has been removed, but weeds also prefer these areas. These weeds compete and restrict the ability of the rare plants and other natives to colonize open areas. Local experts and naturalists from the El Dorado Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) help organize and go after specific populations of the weeds that pose the greatest threat to the Preserve’s resources. Pulling weeds is a great way to meet local botany enthusiasts and learn about all sorts of Preserve happenings.

Landon Eldredge is a Biological Technician with the Bureau of Land Management. He doesn’t come from a botanical background but has acquired a real passion for land management and preservation of the overall ecology of the Pine Hill Preserve. He’s a self proclaimed “adventure botanist” who enjoys getting off trail and looking at habitats in areas that are less than convenient to get to. His mantra is “if you’ll look where people look, you’re likely to find what people find”. He is passionate about making the technical or daunting notions about biology more digestible and welcoming. In addition to the rare plant focused management on the Preserve he is also working with local experts from the El Dorado CNPS to add to the flora of the Pine Hill Preserve, documenting which native bees are present on the Preserve and their associated plants, and helps with fire suppression nationally.

Register for Zoom meeting here: https://tinyurl.com/EDC-CNPS-01-2025-meet