Land Trust Accomplishments

 

Updated April 2011
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In 2006 the Land Trust Board of Trustees set out to transform the Land Trust into a dynamic conservation leader capable of protecting the lands that make Santa Cruz County special for future generations. Since that time the Land Trust has more than doubled the amount of land it protects and raised more than $26 million for land conservation.  Here are some of the details in this remarkable record of accomplishment.   

• The Land Trust has protected more than 1,000 acres of prime farmland in the Pajaro Valley by reaching preservation agreements with four major landowners. These agreements permanently protect the land from development while keeping it in private hands and on the tax rolls.   

• In 2008, the Land Trust acquired the largest unprotected property in the Santa Cruz Sandhills, a key water recharge area and a rare habitat in the Santa Cruz Mountains that renowned botanist Peter Raven calls “the Galapagos Islands of Santa Cruz.” 

• In 2009, the Land Trust acquired over 485 acres of farmland and wetlands at the heart of the Watsonville Sloughs, the largest freshwater wetlands in the County. 

• In 2011 the Land Trust joined with four other conservation organizations to launch the Living Landscape Initiative. The Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy, Sempervirens, Save the Redwoods League, and the Peninsula Open Space Trust will work collaboratively to protect 80,000 acres of land during the next 20 years.
  
  
• In 2011 the Land Trust completed its Conservation Blueprint, which will guide conservation by the Land Trust and its partners in Santa Cruz County for the next generation.

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