From Terry Corwin...

March 2009

Dear Friend,

Six months ago 2009 was shaping up to be the culmination of a remarkable three years for land conservation in our county.  Then the economy headed south, the state budget crisis hit, and donations to support land protection dropped.  Suddenly transactions protecting almost 1,000 acres of land are in jeopardy.

I hope you will make a generous contribution to support of the Land Trust so we can save this land – and continue the transformation of the Land Trust that began three years ago.

With your support we will be able to complete three major transactions this year.  Two of these will protect over 400 acres of prime Pajaro Valley farmland.  When these projects are completed we will have protected almost 1,000 acres of the best farmland in the country.

The third project is the protection of 500 acres of wetlands and farmland at the heart of the Watsonville Sloughs – our county's largest freshwater wetlands. 

We launched this campaign in October, just as the economy headed quickly downhill.  Since then we have scrambled to save this $14.5 million project from the state budget crisis.  Our recent newsletter tells the story of that remarkable success.

When these transactions are completed, the Land Trust will have protected 1700 acres of land and raised $26 million for land conservation in our county – in just three years.

Click here for a summary of what the Land Trust has been able to accomplish the past three years.  Everything we have done in the past three years has been made possible by the support of 800 members who care deeply about the lands that make Santa Cruz County special.  I hope you will join them today

Though your donation may seem small in comparison to the millions of dollars of grants we receive, your support is the lynchpin of our success. 

Member donations pay for the behind-the-scenes work of land protection.  You literally keep the doors open so that we can talk to the landowners and the big grant funders.  And it is your support today that will enable us to protect 1,000 acres of land this year. 

During the past three years member donations to the Land Trust have brought in $25 in outside funds for every contributed dollar!

Your support today will not only save projects now in jeopardy, but will also continue the remarkable run of success you have made possible the past three years.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Terry Corwin
Executive Director

P.S.    Our Spring/Summer Member Walks will be beginning in April.  These walks are free to members and their guests.   Please join today to receive your invitation to these event.

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