At the 2023 Ag Day luncheon, Sarah Newkirk, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County Executive Director, shared the ways the Land Trust is partnering with the agricultural community.

With its 2023-2027 Conservation Roadmap, the Land Trust has outlined the key priorities, initiatives, and projects that will define their projects over the next five years as they approach their 50th anniversary. These priorities align with the organization’s vision of a future in which the fantastic diversity of lands that define and connect people to the Santa Cruz County region—the wild and working forests, globally unique wildlife habitats, coastal landscape, and rich farming and ranching heritage—are cared for and preserved far into the future.

In this recent article in Lookout, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County Executive Director Sarah Newkirk talks about the need to accelerate our response to climate change, protect communities from its impacts, and fix the systems that led to the displacement of our neighbors in Pajaro.

When erosion induced sedimentation travels downstream it can cause problems—reducing the capacity of rivers, causing pollution by carrying chemical runoff, and decreasing the quality of water by changing the chemical content and reducing oxygen levels. There are several restoration techniques that can be used to control the movement of water over the soil surface.

In this article, Chris Wilmers discusses the effects of development on wildlife and the need for more wildlife crossings like the recently completed one at Laurel Curve.

NBC Bay Area shared video of a bobcat using the wildlife crossing at Laurel Curve, captured less than an hour after the camera was installed at the crossing.

Our new Five Year Conservation Roadmap, which will guide our work into our 50th Anniversary in 2028, will debut at our Five-to-50 Launch later this month.

On January 30th, Land Trust staff were joined by Caltrans traffic engineers and biologists, the Wildlife Conservation Network, and Pathways for Wildlife to examine the new wildlife undercrossing at Laurel Curve.

The Land Trust is excited and humbled to share that we’ve reached our goal of raising $21 million through our Nature Connection Campaign, a three-year effort aimed at funding wildlife connectivity, new trails, and farmland protection. This is a celebration of an incredible community coming together to support mission-driven work.