Credit: Andrea Eisler
Gratitude – A Reflection on How Your Gifts Echo Across the Community
At Big Sur Land Trust (BSLT), everything begins with our supporters. Your generosity sets powerful change in motion—change that ripples far beyond one place, one project, or one moment. Because of your contribution, vital partnerships have taken root and flourished. Our cooperation with community organizations, public agencies, and conservation leaders honors the deep interconnectedness of healthy lands, healthy people, and healthy communities. From the upcoming grand opening of the neighborhood park at Ensen Community Park in Salinas to the ambitious joint effort with the Trust for Public Land to protect the iconic Ferrini Ranch property, your impact is real, lasting, and wide-reaching. You help us protect biodiversity, ensure cleaner air and water, and maintain open spaces where people can thrive. Your giving is amplified through collaboration—your role is not just generous; it’s catalytic. We hope you will see your hand in every success we share here. This report is a heartfelt thanks to you, our trusted partner in conservation.
Here are a few of the amazing organizations that are amplifying our collective impact by…
INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF CONSERVATIONISTS
iNaturalist hiking team at Glen Deven Ranch
The Habitat Stewardship Project at Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB) brought students to Ensen Community Park’s demonstration garden to plant and care for thousands of native plants alongside Salinas community members. Students from CSUMB’s Watershed Institute worked with BSLT’s land steward Natalie Vaughn on restoration projects throughout BSLT’s nature preserves.
Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) interns analyzed trail markings at three of our preserves to consider potential improvements to trail safety and ensure a great experience for hikers. Students from both MPC and CSUMB logged species using the iNaturalist app to track biodiversity and helped us identify over 1,100 species! Sydnie Miller, a graduate student from Middlebury Institute of International Studies, delivered an incredible project to help us understand how we can leverage tools like iNaturalist to inform our approach to land conservation and management, and help us collectively achieve land conservation goals on scales such as those prescribed by the state’s 30×30 initiative.
Want to learn more about Sydnie’s project? Check out her storymap!
INCREASING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
Mitteldorf Preserve Credit: Bradley Dunbaugh
The Resource Conservation District of Monterey County and the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) are helping BSLT to improve wildfire resilience for many of our conserved lands. Engaging with expert tribal leaders to integrate cultural and prescribed fire, strategic fuel reduction, and ecological restoration helps reduce wildfire risk and enhance community safety. Teams are collaborating on:
- developing a strategic fire plan for Basin Ranch and implementing initial burns across 100 acres
- planning prescribed burns at Glen Deven Ranch to restore a degraded fuel break threatened by invasive French broom
- reintroducing managed fire at Mittledorf Preserve to support the health of old-growth redwood groves while protecting nearby communities and infrastructure
RESPONSIBLY STEWARDING THE LAND
Surveys at Basin Ranch with Point Blue
Recognizing that Indigenous Peoples have skillfully cared for these lands long before us, we are working with local tribes to integrate best practices to care for the land. Point Blue’s Roots Program funded a restoration project at the degraded site of a spring on Basin Ranch and partnered with the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County to design the project.
Additionally, BSLT worked with Point Blue to integrate Basin Ranch into the Rangeland Monitoring Network. We are now creating a baseline for the site’s soil health, bird species, and sensitive plants that we can apply throughout the rangelands at Basin Ranch, ensuring the health of the land for livestock as well as the native wildlife.
Also at Basin Ranch, Central Coast Wetlands Group (CCWG) is leading California Rapid Assessment Method surveys to monitor the overall conditions of wetlands. This method uses key ecological attributes to establish a management baseline for us to maintain. After training with CCWG, BSLT staff will continue ongoing assessment and monitoring efforts in this critical ecosystem.
The California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) has played an important role in many BSLT acquisitions and habitat restorations. WCB supported the acquisition of Basin Ranch and provided the grant to Point Blue that supports the restoration of riparian habitat. WCB also awarded California Central Coast Joint Venture with funding that supports the pollinator project at Marks Ranch and contributed to the design and construction of the restoration area at Ensen Community Park.
PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY
Staff & Volunteers with Connor Jandreau, from C3JV, at Marks Ranch
Credit: Bradley Dunbaugh
In 2019, BSLT helped seed the California Central Coast Joint Venture (C3JV). Since its formation, C3JV has developed a regional work plan that includes a large-scale pollinator habitat project at Marks Ranch. Just far enough from the coast to protect hibernating monarch butterflies, they guided the planting of 10,000 milkweed plugs of two native varieties for migrating butterflies to lay their eggs on in the spring. We also planted 11 other native flowering species to benefit a range of pollinators that help our local farmers who rely on these insect visitors for their crops to grow.
We have a long history of collaboration with the CA State Coastal Conservancy. Most recently, they contributed to the restoration area construction at Ensen Community Park, which has been in the planning stages for several years but is now in progress! The 67-acres of restored floodplain habitat will provide a resting spot for migrating birds, pond for native frogs, and provide shade for animals in the hot summer. Water will flow more slowly, recharging groundwater stores. Water will leave cleaner as it flows toward Monterey Bay, and the wetland plants that grow will absorb carbon dioxide that would otherwise contribute to climate change.
Volunteer iceplant pull at Martin Dunes – check out upcoming volunteer events! Credit: Jose Carlos Navarro Solis
Our Supporters’ Impact Over the Years
Credit: Jose Carlos Navarro Solis
LAND CONSERVATION & STEWARDSHIP
- Since 1978, BSLT has conserved over 45,000 acres.
- 9,500 acres owned and stewarded by BSLT across 24 properties.
- 7,000 acres monitored across 36 voluntary land conservation agreements.
- 29,000 acres conserved and transferred to other groups, contributing to the creation or expansion of public lands.
PUBLIC ACCESS & PROGRAMMING
- 43 miles of public hiking routes enjoyed by over 2,500 self-guided hikers annually.
- 108 guided hikes, serving over 1,400 participants, since 2022.
- Nearly 2,000 youth have participated in BSLT’s nature camps, leadership training, and backpacking trips since 2013.
- 7,000 community members have engaged in Ensen Community Park events and field trips since 2017.
VOLUNTEER & CITIZEN SCIENCE IMPACT
- Average of 3,500 volunteer hours annually since 2022.
- Over 1,100 species documented at our preserves from 7,900 iNaturalist observations.
- 110 service learners since 2021; 6 interns in 2024.
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
- Carmel River FREE Project: An extensive flood protection and riparian habitat restoration designed to prevent repetitive flooding of communities near the mouth of Carmel Valley.
- Ensen Community Park: Increasing public parkland by 31% in the city of Salinas with a 6-acre neighborhood park and 67-acre wetland restoration area.
TRIBAL PARTNERSHIPS
- Co-stewarding 5,000 acres and returning 84 acres with local tribes.
Interested in our financial report? Visit bigsurlandtrust.org/financials
We Gratefully Acknowledge the Support of Our Generous Sponsors
Please donate now and your generosity will be transformed into wondrous beauty and unforgettable experiences while you support healthy lands, healthy people, and healthy communities in our region.