California removed 900,000 pounds of debris while restoring 40 acres
California environmental crews preserved old telephone poles during a land restoration project at the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve to protect nesting sites for the rare western purple martin. The project also involved removing nearly a million pounds of human debris from the area.
Why it matters
This initiative demonstrates how targeted conservation efforts can help prevent the local extinction of endangered species while simultaneously cleaning up human-impacted ecosystems.
California crews left old telephone poles standing while restoring about 40 acres of land at Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve because purple martins use holes in the poles as nesting sites. The decision came as part of a wider restoration project in which more than 900,000 pounds of human debris was removed from the newly acquired properties.The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District recently completed the restoration work on several properties that were added to the preserve. According to it, the land had abandoned vehicles, dilapidated structures and other debris accumulated over the years.While most of these remains were removed, the old telephone poles were kept. Midpen staff had discovered purple martins nesting in holes inside similar poles near the mountain top while working on Mount Umunhum.The discovery was significant because purple martins were thought to have disappeared from Santa Clara County.
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