Area: The Manchester Preserve consists of 123 acres of varied topography, ranging from a gently sloping canyon bottom to extremely steep canyon walls, with elevations ranging from 40 to 275 feet above sea level.
Location: The Preserve is located on Manchester Avenue between El Camino Real and South Rancho Santa Fe Road in Encinitas, California, San Diego County.
Date Acquired: 1998
Acquisition Type: CNLM owns the preserve. We protect and manage imperiled species and habitats on the preserve in perpetuity. CDFW holds the CE enforcement beneficiaries as a third party.
Key Habitats: Coastal Scrub and Mixed Chaparral.
Species of Special Interest to CNLM: San Diego thorn-mint (Acanthomintha ilicifolia) , Del Mar Manzanita (Arctostaphylosglandulosa crassifolia), California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica) and Orcutt’s hazardia (Hazardia orcuttii).
Introduction
In 1998, Center for Natural Lands Management took title to Manchester Preserve (originally known as Manchester Mitigation Bank) from the Techbilt Construction, Incorporated. Techbilt set aside more than 100 acres to mitigate for habitat loss from nearby development projects.
Conservation Significance
The Manchester Preserve is a biologically rich site representative of the high diversity of coastal San Diego County’s natural habitats. Over 80% of this Preserve is covered in two native habitat types, Diegan sage scrub and southern maritime chaparral. Several threatened or endangered species occur on this site including the San Diego thornmint, Del Mar Manzanita, Orcutt’s hazardia, and the California gnatcatcher. The Preserve has a varied topography, ranging from a gently sloping canyon bottom to extremely steep canyon walls, with elevations ranging from 40 to 275 feet above sea level.
Our Work
Our primary management goal for this Preserve is to control invasive non-native plant species and facilitate public use to ensure compatibility between the general public and the needs of the imperiled species that exist on the Preserve. This site is in a highly urban-suburban setting and presents unique challenges in our stewardship activities, including identifying the best and most effective techniques to reduce the risk of extirpation of the San Diego thornmint, Del Mar manzanita, Orcutt’s hazardia, and California gnatcatcher on the Preserve.
Download KMZ file
To download, KMZ trail file to use with Google Map or Google Earth for Manchester Preserve click, here.
Public Access
The Manchester Preserve has hiking trails with public access. There are opportunities for residents to volunteer for a variety of needs including patrolling the preserve, assist with trail maintenance.
Please alert CNLM staff of any issues observed that would be harmful to the Preserve.
Contact
For information about Manchester Preserve or Center for Natural Lands Management please contact Brooke Prentice-Dekker, Preserve Manager at bdekker@cnlm.org or 760.731.7790 extension 221.
