POST Acquires 95 Acres of Critical Wetlands and Farmland at Watsonville Sloughs
Partnership with Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and Nature Conservancy Rescues Land Protection Campaign in Wake of State Bond-Funding Freeze
January 16, 2009
Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) is partnering with the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County (LTSCC) and The Nature Conservancy to protect 95 acres of wetland habitat and agricultural land at the heart of the Watsonville Sloughs, Santa Cruz County’s largest freshwater wetland. POST stepped in to acquire the property at the request of LTSCC, whose state funding for the project was frozen as a result of the budget impasse in Sacramento.
Using its land acquisition fund, POST took title to the land, known formerly as the Cheung Ranch, on January 9 for $3.1 million. The amount paid includes a $1.5 million grant to POST from The Nature Conservancy expressly for this project. This grant was made possible by a Conservancy fund previously established by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to protect high-priority habitats on California’s Central Coast. The property, located west of Highway 1 in Watsonville, includes important wildlife habitats adjacent to some of the most valuable and fertile organic farmland in California. The site’s wetlands help maintain water quality and provide habitats for an array of native birds and amphibians.
For this purchase, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County was counting on $1.6 million in state grants that had already been approved by the boards of the Wildlife Conservation Board and State Coastal Conservancy when the funding freeze went into effect. On December 19, conservation organizations in California were notified that all bond funding from state agencies for their projects had been suspended as of December 17. This halted all previously designated spending from these restricted bond funds. Projects throughout California designed to create and maintain local parks and protect open space, agricultural land, watershed lands and wildlife habitat were all affected.
After unsuccessfully pursuing other remedies, officials from LTSCC contacted POST on January 5 to see if the Palo Alto-based land trust could help with the acquisition, which had to close in three days. POST, working closely with LTSCC and Monterey-based representatives of The Nature Conservancy, mobilized to complete the $3.1 million purchase in less than a week. In the event that state funding to LTSCC is restored, POST will then sell back the land to LTSCC at cost. In the meantime, LTSCC will assume all liabilities for managing the property and lease it to the current agricultural operator, Matulich Farms, which works with tenants to grow organic strawberries and other row crops on a portion of the land.
“We were shocked to learn that this project, the funds for which had already been voted on and approved, would be compromised so quickly,” said POST President Audrey C. Rust. “The funding freeze has left every conservation group in California with obligations they have to renege on. That, coupled with the absolutely essential need to protect this agricultural land and slough habitat, moved us to act. We put in everything we could to help out with this project, and we are thrilled to be part of a swift and creative solution to an otherwise impossible situation.”
“We are trying to protect this land the smart way—before a development plan is on the table and protection becomes even more expensive,” said LTSCC Executive Director Terry Corwin. “We had to act now or else risk losing this opportunity to permanently protect this spectacular expanse of rolling farmland and critical wetlands. This purchase is the linchpin for future protection of the Watsonville Sloughs, and an important step toward containing the persistent march of urbanization that threatens to swallow up open space and productive agricultural land in Watsonville and on the Central Coast.”
According to Christina Fischer, The Nature Conservancy’s Monterey Project Director, the sloughs are rich with irreplaceable natural resources. “The Nature Conservancy recognizes that coastal freshwater wetlands like the Watsonville Sloughs provide unique, essential habitat for rare native plants and animals, and may serve as a critical natural buffer as global warming and sea level rise impact our coastal area,” she said. “We applaud the outstanding efforts of both POST and the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County to protect these important resources.”
“We simply couldn’t risk losing this property,” added Corwin. “By collaborating with POST and The Nature Conservancy, we are immensely relieved and grateful to be able to start bringing permanent protection to this extraordinary complex of lands.”
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POST contact: Nina Nowak
Director of Communications
Phone: (650) 854-7696, x. 306
Cell: (650) 283-0993
nnowak@openspacetrust.org
www.openspacetrust.org
The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County contact: Stephen Slade
Director of Development & Communications
Phone: (831) 429-6116
stephen.slade@landtrustsantacruz.org
wwww.landtrustsantacruz.org
The Nature Conservancy contact: Vanessa Martin
Media Relations Manager
Phone: (916) 402-2810
vmartin@tnc.org
www.nature.org
POST is a leading private, nonprofit land trust dedicated to preserving the beauty, character and diversity of the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Cruz Mountain range. Since its founding in 1977, POST has been responsible for saving 60,000 acres as permanent open space and parkland in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Visit POST online at www.openspacetrust.org.
The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, in cooperation with public and private interests, protects and manages lands of significant natural resource, agricultural, cultural and open space value. Visit the Land Trust online at www.landtrustsantacruz.org.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy online at www.nature.org.