The Santa Cruz long-toed salamander was discovered in a pond at Valencia Lagoon in Aptos in 1954. Since then, their habitat has been fragmented by highways and roads, creating meta populations that can’t breed with each other. The Land Trust is focused on preserving and maintaining large intact patches of habitat and collaborating with its partners to build wildlife crossings that would allow these meta populations to join others.

The known range of the species is only 50 square miles spread between Aptos and Castroville. Properties containing upland habitat, especially those near to known breeding ponds, are incredibly important for the recovery of the species. Given their extremely limited range, conservation initiatives like this are rare opportunities to recover a rare and endangered species.

The Santa Cruz long-toed salamander spends most of its life in summer habitat under leaf litter in holes and burrows made by other animals where they can stay moist during the dry season. This area provides all those features, making it the perfect summering habitat for the salamander.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has identified properties in this area as the highest priority acquisition targets for their potential to contribute to the recovery of SCLTS as a large, contiguous area of strategically located, relatively undisturbed and unfragmented high-quality habitat. The project will also provide protection of oak woodland and scrub wildlife habitat benefiting other resident and migratory wildlife. The conservation values are threatened by the habitat fragmentation of the Seascape-La Selva Beach area dominated by residential subdivision developments.

Over the past year, the Land Trust has collaborated with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, Caltrans Region 5, and the Santa Cruz County RCD to facilitate the recovery of the SCLTS. Together, we created a landscape-scale conservation plan, secured funding, and identified vital land acquisitions for salamander connectivity.

With funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Land Trust has protected 144 acres known as weelili onyenmak (which means our relatives, the salamanders in the Mutsun language), 111 acres known as Acorn Ridge Preserve, and 14 acres known as Little Glen to be managed in perpetuity for the benefit of the SCLTS and other wildlife. The conservation goal is to protect 350 acres of salamander habitat and collaborate in the construction of a salamander crossing that spans Highway 1. This will allow for the interbreeding subpopulations necessary for genetic diversity, species resilience, and recovery.