Big Sur Land Trust, City of Salinas, and Center for Community Advocacy invite the public to celebrate a major milestone in the restoration of Carr Lake on Sunday, September 20
SALINAS, Calif. — A years-long effort to restore vital natural habitat in the heart of Salinas reaches a major milestone this month with the opening of an expanded natural green space at Ensen Community Park.
On Sunday, September 20, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Big Sur Land Trust, the City of Salinas, and the Center for Community Advocacy will welcome our supporters and the public to experience newly restored wetlands, grasslands and other habitat areas and celebrate the residents, conservation partners, and community organization partners who helped make the transformation possible. A formal ceremony and ribbon-cutting will begin at 12:00 p.m.
The park opening marks the next chapter for Ensen Community Park, where a community-led vision has brought together two goals that are too often treated separately: restoring nature and creating welcoming outdoor spaces for people.
Where agricultural fields once dominated the landscape, restored wetlands and native habitat are taking root. The project is creating healthier habitat for birds and other wildlife while giving residents of Salinas the opportunity to walk through, learn from, and experience a natural landscape close to home.
The project to restore 67 acres included grading and moving over 180,000 cubic yards of soil, planting over 12,000 native plants and trees, restoring over 30 acres of grassland and nearly 30 acres of wetland habitat, installing three bridges totaling 240 feet in length, and constructing 1.7 miles of trails. 19 bird boxes, nesting and roosting poles have been installed, and 68 species of birds have already been documented on-site, including egrets, herons, cormorants, several species of swallow, and a nesting family of American avocets. Frogs, toads, and a family of gray foxes have also been observed. Seven interpretive panels have been installed to support use of the space as a natural outdoor classroom. Over 7,000 local residents and community members have participated in the project, including planning meetings, planting plants, and speaking on behalf of the project at City Council meetings.
Four state agencies provided over $18M in public grant funding to support the construction and initial restoration of the 67-acre restoration site: California State Coastal Conservancy, California Wildlife Conservation Board, California Natural Resource Agency Urban Greening Program, and California Department of Water Resources Urban Streams Program.
“The opening of this vibrant natural green space is an extraordinary milestone for Ensen Community Park and for Salinas,” said Jeannette Tuitele-Lewis, President and CEO of Big Sur Land Trust. “This is what conservation can look like when we begin with community. Together, we have created a place where habitat can recover, wildlife can return, and people can experience the beauty and benefits of nature as part of their everyday lives. We are deeply grateful to our public funding partners and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for helping make this green space expansion possible.”
“The opening of the Restoration Area at Ensen Community Park represents an opportunity for residents to engage with nature as part of their everyday life,” said Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue. “This is a great example of what can happen when public and private partnerships come together for the good of community. We are so thankful for Big Sur Land Trust and all of their partners for their vision of creating this amazing natural green space that will be used by the community for decades to come.”
From Community Vision to Ecological Restoration
Ensen Community Park sits within the area known as Carr Lake, a more than 480-acre seasonal lakebed in the center of Salinas. For decades, Salinas residents and community leaders have envisioned Carr Lake as a place where families could gather, play, walk, and connect with nature. This is particularly meaningful to many East Salinas residents where access to parks and natural areas has been historically limited.
In 2017, Big Sur Land Trust purchased 73 acres at Carr Lake with generous support from public and private partners, including Monterey Peninsula Foundation, California Natural Resources Agency, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the California State Coastal Conservancy.
From the beginning, the vision went beyond creating a traditional city park. The goal was to demonstrate how conservation, habitat restoration, community health, and equitable access to nature could work together on one landscape.
More than 7,000 Salinas residents helped shape that vision – signing petitions, attending design meetings and site tours, helping create and care for a native plant demonstration garden, identifying desired park amenities, and ultimately choosing the park’s name.
The first phase of that vision created a 6-acre neighborhood park with recreational and gathering spaces shaped by community priorities. The opening of an expanded green space with restored wetlands, grasslands, and trees now extends that experience into a surrounding natural landscape.
“The initial restoration of the Ensen wetlands and other native plants and trees shows what is possible when we restore ecological systems with people in mind,” said Rachel Saunders, Vice President of Conservation at Big Sur Land Trust. “Wetlands provide important habitat and support the health and resilience of the larger landscape. At Ensen Community Park, they also offer something deeply human: the chance to experience birds, native plants, water, and changing seasons right in the middle of the city.”
A Place for People and Nature
The restoration has been designed not only to improve habitat, but also to deepen the relationship between the people of Salinas and the natural landscape around them.
Visitors will be able to move from the active neighborhood park into a quieter natural environment, experiencing firsthand how restored habitat changes over time. “As native vegetation becomes established and the wetlands mature, the landscape will continue to evolve – providing increasingly rich habitat and new opportunities for environmental education, exploration, and stewardship,” said Saunders.
That connection between people and place has been central to Ensen Community Park from the beginning.
Big Sur Land Trust worked closely with the City of Salinas, Center for Community Advocacy (CCA), CSUMB’s Habitat Stewardship Project, Building Healthy Communities, Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association, Inc. (CHISPA), Monterey County Department of Public Health, and other local partners to engage residents, many from historically underserved neighborhoods. 13 local organizations contributed to the planning and outreach process.
It is also appropriate that we celebrate the new park space as this year’s Latino Conservation Week draws to a close. An initiative of the Hispanic Access Foundation, this week-long event was created to support the Latino community getting into the outdoors and participating in activities to protect our natural resources. The park opening reflects the spirit of Latino Conservation Week by celebrating a conservation project shaped and supported by the Salinas community, where Latino residents have played a central role in bringing this vision to life.
“Ensen Community Park is a gem for the City of Salinas and a testament to the power of community leadership. After years of advocacy and collaboration, families now have access to 67 acres of restored natural landscape with wetlands, native habitat, and walking trails that bring the benefits of nature closer to home. This project shows what is possible when community voices help shape the future of their neighborhoods,” said Juan Gomez, Interim Executive Director of Center for Community Advocacy.
Rooted in the History of the Land
The name Ensen also reflects the community’s desire for the park to recognize the deeper history of the landscape.
Of the 966 respondents to the final community survey, most felt it was important for the park’s name to honor the history of Indigenous peoples and their relationship with the land.
“Ensen,” meaning blackberry, was suggested by Louise J. Miranda Ramirez, Tribal Chairwoman of the Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation (OCEN), in recognition of the importance of blackberries as a traditional food source for Indigenous peoples of the area.
The restored natural habitat builds on that commitment to create a place that recognizes the interconnected relationships among land, water, wildlife, and people.
A Long-Term Commitment to Restoration
Although the expanded green space is opening to the public, the restoration itself is not finished. Ecological restoration takes time. Native vegetation will continue to become established, habitat will change and mature, and Big Sur Land Trust will continue active stewardship of the natural habitat as part of an MOU with the City of Salinas.
That long-term commitment is an important part of Ensen Park’s future. While the City of Salinas now owns the land and will manage the 73-acre park, Big Sur Land Trust continues to raise funds for a stewardship endowment to help ensure that the restored landscape receives the care it needs for generations to come.
“Opening this expanded green space is both a celebration and a beginning,” said Tuitele-Lewis. “The community will now have the opportunity to watch this landscape grow and change – to see habitat return and to build their own relationship with this place. We hope Ensen Community Park becomes an example of how conservation can strengthen both natural systems and human communities.”
The opening will also highlight this ongoing commitment through “Friends of Ensen,” an emerging volunteer-led group that supports park clean-ups, stewardship activities, and community engagement at Ensen Community Park. Community members interested in joining “Friends of” can find more info here: https://bigsurlandtrust.org/where-we-work/carr-lake-salinas/get-involved-at-ensen-community-park/
September 20 Celebration Event
The community is invited to explore the restored landscape and celebrate this milestone with family-friendly activities, community performances, local food, and opportunities to learn more about the wetlands, wildlife, and restoration work.
What: Ensen Community Park Restoration Area Grand Opening
When: Sunday, September 20, 2026, 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Formal Ceremony and Ribbon-Cutting: Begins 12:00 p.m.
Where: Ensen Community Park, 600 Sherwood Dr., Salinas, CA 93906
Parking: Mount Toro High School, 10 Sherwood Place, Salinas, CA 93906
Hosted by: Big Sur Land Trust, Center for Community Advocacy, and City of Salinas
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