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Land on Bishop Peak to Be Acquired Want to Own a Path to the Beach? Find out How You Can Southern California Wetland Planning Initiatives Huge Stretch of Santa Cruz County Coast to Be Preserved |
ALSO IN DECEMBER, the Conservancy authorized up to $1 million toward the acquisition of the second-largest privately owned oceanfront parcel between San Francisco and the Mexican border for conservation, recreation, and agricultural use. The funds will go toward the acquisition of the Coast Dairies and Land Co., Inc., owner of over 7,000 acres of coastal land five miles north of the City of Santa Cruz. The firm will be acquired by the Save-the-Redwoods League or the Trust for Public Land (TPL). Interests in the lands currently owned by the corporation will be disposed of to appropriate public or nonprofit entities to manage primarily for public access and resource protection. The property owner has agreed to sell its stock to the the League or TPL for substantially less than the appraised value of the property. A successful private fundraising campaign has raised all but $5.6 million. It is expected that the League will transfer the option to TPL, which will take the lead in preparing a management and disposition plan for the property. The Coast Dairies property is larger than any private coastal landholding south of San Francisco except the Hearst Ranch. It stretches along five miles of shoreline, surrounds the town of Davenport, and contains five beaches, coastal bluffs, marine terraces, coniferous forests, oak woodlands, open meadows, five major creeks bordered by extensive riparian woodlands, and 750 acres of irrigated cropland. The property is being used in part for growing crops and grazing. RMC Lonestar Cement Co. operates a shale quarry on leased land. Once the corporation is acquired, a planning team of representatives from the Nature Conservancy, the Save-the-Redwoods League, the Trust for Public Land, and the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County will create an advisory committee composed of representatives from the Coastal Conservancy and other local, state, and federal agencies and universities to help produce a disposition and management plan. This plan will identify future trail alignments, areas to remain in agricultural production and other revenue-producing uses, and areas requiring restoration and enhancement. It is expected that the process will take about a year, and that several more years will be needed to carry out the property dispositions. |
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