You can download a PDF Fact Sheet on the Conservation Blueprint from the Library to the right.

About the Conservation Blueprint
(updated 2/11/10)

What is the Conservation Blueprint?
The Conservation Blueprint will be a science-based, community-supported vision of the conservation priorities for Santa Cruz County over the next 20 years.  The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County has assembled a team of scientists to gather everything we know about our natural resources and the threats to them. This information will be put on maps and in charts and made available to the public through a website and a series of community workshops. The final product will be a guide for conservation for the Land Trust, other conservation organizations and public agencies.

Will the Conservation Blueprint override other regulations or the plans of other groups or agencies?
No. The Conservation Blueprint will be a guide that we hope will be useful, but it is not a government plan and it will not direct the activities of any municipality, organization or agency.

Who is creating this blueprint?
The Conservation Blueprint is a project of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, which is working with a wide variety of partners. Funding for this project has been provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The Project Director is Andrea MacKenzie, the former General Manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.  A Steering Committee will review the scientific information.

How can I have a say in what's in the Conservation Blueprint?
The Land Trust will host four community workshops in April and May to solicit public input (dates and locations are in the Library to the right). These workshops are being funded by the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County. In addition, there is an interactive website to provide the community with information and to solicit community input.

Why do we need a Conservation Blueprint?
This sort of comprehensive science-based, community-supported conservation vision has proven to be an important tool in guiding the work of scores of conservation organizations and agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The Land Trust is adapting the modeling process used by the Bay Area Open Space Council to guide conservation in the nine Bay Area Counties.

Why is the Land Trust the group to be leading this effort?
During the past three years, the Land Trust has become a leader in conservation in Santa Cruz County. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation recognized both the need for a county conservation blueprint and the Land Trust's ability to play the leadership role in developing one.