Securing the future of Santa Cruz County

With your support, we are protecting our collective backyard. From the Byrne-Milliron Forest to the Glenwood Open Space Preserve, members like you are partnering with us to ensure there are redwood and oak forests to hike, farmland to produce fresh healthy food, and connected open space for wildlife to roam.

This spring, your support will make a tremendous impact by helping us to:

- Build over five miles of new trails at our Watsonville Slough Farm, which will include u-pick orchards and gardens, picnic areas, boardwalks, and viewing platforms.

- Restore 40 acres of tidal marshland at Beach Ranch to create a resilient landscape that protects prime farmland and buffers the surrounding community from increasing storms, flooding, and sea-level rise.

- Plan fire resilience and habitat restoration projects in partnership with the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association and Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County.

Highway 17’s narrow lanes and dangerous curves make it particularly difficult and dangerous to negotiate—for people and animals alike. In January 2023, the Land Trust and its partners completed a wildlife crossing under the highway at Laurel Curve. Within the month, the first bobcat was recorded using the tunnel and before the end of the year, the first mountain lion. From 2023 - 2024, 934 animal passages were recorded on camera, including bobcat, gray fox, black tailed deer, mountain lion, opossum, and skunk. These results demonstrate that the wildlife crossing is having a huge impact by restoring habitat connectivity and reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions.