Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge in the northern Monterey Bay area of California protects a small but important network of coastal habitats for some of central California’s most vulnerable species. Established primarily to preserve the threatened Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, it consists of four units—Ellicott, Calabasas, Harkins Slough, and Buena Vista—lying close together and containing breeding ponds, uplands, scrub, woodland, forest, and prairie. The Ellicott and Buena Vista units hold the only two known strips of breeding habitat for the salamander. The refuge also supports the California red-legged frog, California tiger salamander, robust spineflower, and seabirds at Harkins Slough.

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