What lands will we protect for future generations?
In March 2009, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County was awarded a grant by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to fund an 18-month conservation planning project that will result in a Conservation Blueprint. The development process will combine comprehensive scientific analysis with extensive community input to identify the highest priorities for land conservation in the county.
Our goal is visionary: we want to look generations ahead and ask what we as a county want to save for the future. Certainly the vision that emerges from this process will guide the Land Trust's work for at least a generation. We also hope that it will help guide the work of the many other conservation organizations and partners also working to protect our county's rich natural resources. And this vision of what we as a county want to protect may help us decide that we need to create an open space district to build the capacity necessary to turn the vision into reality.
The Process
Creating a conservation blueprint is a two-part process:
- First, we collect data about our natural resources and the threats to them.
- Second, we present this information to the public and ask you to determine what is most important to protect.
This process recognizes that, ultimately, we as a people will protect only what is important to us. It involves educating ourselves about what's at risk and deciding amongst ourselves what's important to protect for future generations.
During the summer and fall of 2009, teams of scientists and planners will gather data on our resource-rich county: on our forests, rivers and farmlands; on critical habitats where salmon spawn and mountain lions roam; on the lands where we grow food and build roads and houses. This information will be documented on maps and charts. Then, early next year, we will hold a series of community workshops to share what we know and ask you to tell us what you value most.
Following the community input process, we will go back to the drawing board to fashion a Blueprint that we hope will guide conservation in our county for generations to come.
Questions We Seek to Answer
Even before we gather data and look for answers, we already know some of the issues that will come up as we look 20 years into the future of our county.
Population:
How many more people will there be? The state estimates that Santa Cruz County will have 50,000 more people by 2040 – which is roughly the same as adding another city the size of Santa Cruz or Watsonville. Are there places that should be preserved as off limits for living, working and shopping?
Working Lands:
Which farmland is the most important to protect? What will happen in the Santa Cruz Mountains? In the future do we want one big park? Does timber harvesting have a future in our county?
Habitat:
How important is it to have salmon in our rivers and creeks and mountain lions roaming the mountains and hills?
Climate Change:
What will be the impact of climate change on our county? The science is in its infancy we’re learning new things almost daily. One possibility suggested by recent modeling, is that Santa Cruz county could see more fog in the future, which would moderate the expected warming, and could make our county a refuge for species driven from hotter places. The idea is interesting, partly because Santa Cruz County already is a refuge from the urban density just "over the hill."
We forget sometimes, until we travel "over the hill," that the Bay Area is the country's 4th largest metropolitan area. But when we are heading home, when the parking lots and eight-lane freeways give way suddenly to the dense green of our forests, we feel we are returning to our refuge, our natural oasis, our home. The question before us now is what we want that home to look like for our children and grandchildren. That is the question the Land Trust will seek to answer in the next 18 months.
You can receive updates on the plan and community workshops, by signing up for Land Trust E-Updates here.
