As a requirement for obtaining the matching grant for the acquisition, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (SCAPOSD) required FoVG to have a Recreation Covenant that specified the limited uses of the land and a master plan that detailed the conditions of the land in 2011 and a restoration master plan.

Spearheaded by Victoria Wikle, who served on the SCAPOSD Advisory Board and who was the lead for the restoration of Riverside Park in Guerneville, the Master Plan for Patterson Point Preserve was developed over two years. The original Restoration and Land Management Plan is available here.

The plan has been updated and implemented since 2011 by the PPP Restoration Committee with the help of volunteers as well as with dedicated paid stewards. Restoration priorities include removal of invasive species, limiting flood erosion in swale (planting sedge), improving the habitat for native birds, mammals and insects, encouraging appropriate understory plants, ensuring the long-term health of our significant trees and minimizing the impact of our human visitors. An annual action plan is created by the Restoration Committee.

Because of bird nesting in the summer, and flooding in the winter, the restoration has been a slow, laborious process. Restoration activities are limited to the months of October to March to avoid disturbing nesting birds. Since 2019, the PPP restoration effort has been enhanced by STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed). STRAW brings student groups from the area to the Preserve to plant and maintain native fauna in areas where invasives have been previously removed.

In 2023, a Tree Monitoring 2023 Baseline Report was prepared with the assistance of Mike Jones, a Forestry Advisor for the University of California. Kaya Halpern, the Preserve Manager, and Leah Norwood, her predecessor. For each of the 39 significant trees in the Preserve, a baseline description was created. Click here to view the document.