A conservation organization has purchased 160 acres of privately held property as part of their efforts to preserve the Ventana Wilderness area near Monterey.
The Wilderness Land Trust is a national non-profit conservation organization that works to preserve public land by purchasing privately-owned property that falls within or adjacent to designated wilderness areas. They recently purchased 160 acres as part of their efforts to preserve the Ventana Wilderness area near Monterey.
“We purchase the land from the private land owner and then we work to transfer that land to public ownership, so that’s our ultimate goal,” Margosia Jadkowski from the Wilderness Land Trust said.
She said buying the land removes the threat of residential or commercial developments that may harm wildlife, affect water sources, or limit public access to designated wilderness areas.
The Trust purchased 160 acres, called the Church Creek property, that overlooks the interior coastal range of Ventana Wilderness. Jadkowski said it includes hiking trails, streams, and critical wildlife habitat.
“As our climate continues to change, having room to roam for animals, whether it's for regular migration or as they are pushed from one portion of the habitat to another, having that varied landscape, having water sources, are all really important in building climate resilience,” she said.
The land was acquired from the San Francisco Zen Center, which Jadkowski describes as a willing partner that shares the goal of conservation.
The next step in the process is to transfer the property to the Los Padres National Forest. She said this step can take a few years and The Wilderness Land Trust will hold the property until the transfer is complete – at which point, it will become publicly protected land for generations to come.
“We’re not just protecting the Church Creek property from the kind of development that’s possible on it today, we’re protecting it from the kind of development that might be possible on it in 50 or 75 years, that we can’t even conceive of yet,” Jadkowski said.
You can find more information at WildernessLandTrust.org
