Midpen staff recently completed a vegetation removal project in El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve that expanded a helicopter landing zone in El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve. The site can now accommodate larger medical and fire suppression helicopters during potential emergencies. Crew also thinned nearby forest, improving overall health of the area and increasing resilience to potential wildland fire.
Throughout the project, staff took special care to protect Kings Mountain manzanita, a rare plant species endemic to California, that is known to exist in the region. The northern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains are the only place in the world that the Kings Mountain manzanita (Arctostaphylos regismontana) is known to exist, where it grows within granite and sandstone soils.