Sonoma Land Trust launches
$18 million campaign to accelerate pace of land conservation in Sonoma County
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation contributes $6 million lead gift
(SANTA ROSA, CALIF., August 27, 2009) — From now through the end of 2010, the Sonoma Land Trust plans to raise $18 million to protect and connect remaining large, at-risk open spaces within Sonoma County. Redwoods to the Bay: Saving Sonoma County’s Signature Landscapes is an ambitious fundraising campaign to keep Sonoma County’s landscapes intact, develop a network of protected lands, preserve the county’s rural character, enhance recreational and environmental education opportunities, and create a legacy of open lands for future generations to enjoy and cherish.
Despite, and because of, the recession, there continue to be excellent conservation opportunities, but reduced funding sources are available. Substantial public funding was expected to be available for land protection thanks to the 2006 passage of California’s Proposition 84 and local Measure F reauthorizing the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, but current economic conditions have altered the picture. As an independent, non-governmental agency, the Sonoma Land Trust is capable of responding quickly to market opportunities and proactively pursuing targeted properties given sufficient private support.
“This is no time to pull back,” says Ralph Benson, executive director, Sonoma Land Trust. “The Redwoods to the Bay campaign will enable us to continue and even ramp up our efforts to protect the landscapes we love that define Sonoma County.”
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation gives $6 million
To jumpstart Redwoods to the Bay, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the world’s largest foundation focused on environmental conservation and science, has contributed a generous lead gift of $6 million, or one third of the campaign total. Funding the acquisition of irreplaceable Bay Area lands is a major focus of the Foundation, which also supported Sonoma Land Trust’s purchases in the southern part of the county of the Baylands in 2004 and Tolay Creek Ranch in 2007.
“The Sonoma Land Trust has a proven track record of collaboration that allows them to leverage local dollars and bring in additional funding for land conservation,” says Gary Knoblock, program officer of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. "For this reason, the Foundation wanted to be involved because we have confidence that this campaign will successfully ensure the acquisition and stewardship of the Jenner Headlands and other large tracts of land throughout the county.”
Along with the $6 million lead gift from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, an additional $2.3 million has been raised from Sonoma Land Trust board members, individuals, foundations and businesses — leaving $9.7 million to be raised by the end of 2010.
What the campaign will accomplish
Redwoods to the Bay: Saving Sonoma County’s Signature Landscapes will protect the spectacular 5,630-acre Jenner Headlands, supplement the Land Protection Fund that enables Sonoma Land Trust to move quickly to secure other key properties, develop a Conservation Easement and Stewardship Fund to maintain the increasing number of properties that the Land Trust manages and protects, and enhance the Trust’s recreational and environmental education program that connects people to the land and helps ensure that an environmental ethic will inspire current and subsequent generations.
Sonoma County is an unusually large and diverse county with only 15 percent of the land permanently protected thus far, compared to 59 percent of Marin County and 38 percent of San Mateo County. By 2040, Sonoma County’s population is expected to rise by more than 50 percent to 700,000 residents and the impacts of climate change on humans and other species are still unknown. A prudent course of action is to protect land, letting open spaces perform their ecological services and provide plant and animal species with a buffer to adapt to the changing environment.
The majority of the campaign is designated for the Land Protection Fund, which will target significant properties in these five conservation regions:
North Coast / Redwoods: Prevent further fragmentation of coastal properties and redwood forestland, implement public access plan for Jenner Headlands, add focus on Cedars Conservation Region.
West County: Expand protected lands along the coast and link Estero Americano and Salmon Creek watersheds through a network of protected farms and ranches.
Sonoma Baylands: Reestablish 2,300-acre natural freshwater-to-saltmarsh ecosystem, build educational pavilion, construct six miles of new trails, restore 1,700-acre Tolay Creek Ranch.
Sonoma Valley & Sonoma Mountain: Expand trail and habitat corridor between Annadel and Jack London State Parks, and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and Beltane Ranch; restore SLT’s historic Glen Oaks Ranch as a community center.
North County / Mayacamas: Link large, protected lands in this scenic part of the county that includes farmland, oak woodlands, forests, grasslands, wetlands, wildlife habitat and the Bidwell Creek corridor.
Public access, stewardship and easements
The campaign also includes funding for public access, environmental education, land stewardship and conservation easement protection. The Land Trust currently owns five nature preserves and 10 additional properties, and holds 35 conservation easements, altogether encompassing nearly 20,000 acres. As landholdings increase, so do stewardship responsibilities. And as the Land Trust takes on more conservation easements, so does the responsibility and cost of enforcing them. Funding to meet unforeseen legal challenges, care for protected land into perpetuity, and get people out on these protected lands is crucial.
“Engaging people with the land to instill a sense of place, providing environmental education and developing the next generation of young conservationists are all critical to our community’s quality of life,” says Benson. “This initiative will focus on creating new trails, increasing the number of public outings, providing age-appropriate environmental education opportunities, and bringing more people to the very special lands that are protected by the Sonoma Land Trust.”
About the Sonoma Land Trust
The Sonoma Land Trust preserves scenic, natural, agricultural and open land for future generations. Since 1976, the Sonoma Land Trust has protected nearly 20,000 acres of beautiful, productive and environmentally significant land. For more information about the Sonoma Land Trust, please visit www.sonomalandtrust.org.
