POST Receives $10 Million Allocation From Wildlife Conservation Board
August 30, 2001
California's Wildlife Conservation Board today approved a grant of $10,000,000 to the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) to complete the acquisition of 1719 acres of land on the San Mateo County Coast known as Bolsa Point Ranches.
The property, located along Highway 1 just south of Pescadero, includes pristine beaches, prime agricultural land, important wildlife habitat and significant water resources. Thirteen months ago POST acquired an option to purchase the property for $39 million, the most ever paid by a public benefit land trust to purchase open space in the Western United States.
The Wildlife Conservation Board is located in the Resources Agency of the State of California. At today's meeting in Sacramento, the Board made the allocation to POST from its General Fund Land Conservation Matching Grants Program. The Matching Grants Program was made possible through monies provided in last year's budget by Governor Gray Davis.
"This project provides the Wildlife Conservation Board with an opportunity to partner with POST to conserve and protect significant coastal terrace prairie, riparian zones, wet meadows and fresh water marshes along one of the largest sections of unprotected land on the San Mateo Coast," said Al Wright, Executive Director of the Conservation Board. "The project will also provide public access to land and beaches for recreational purposes such as bird watching and nature study, as well as opportunities for environmental research and education."
Bolsa Point Ranches provide habitat for a number of threatened and endangered species, including the red-legged frog, California tiger salamander and San Francisco garter snake, as well as a variety of other wildlife and plant communities. Included in the purchase of the property are essential water rights to Lake Lucerne, Gazos Creek (one of the most important steelhead and endangered coho salmon streams in the state), Butano Creek, and other ponds and waterways.
As a condition of grant funding, POST will grant the state a conservation easement over a 1,000 acre portion of the property to ensure long-term protection of the land in its native state and preservation of public recreational opportunities for the future.
The grant includes $10 million to assist with the Bolsa Point Ranches purchase and $10,000 for costs associated with the easement. Upon completion of the necessary documents and surveys, funding is anticipated within three to six months.
Last month additional public funding was committed to the acquisition of Bolsa Point Ranches when a $5 million appropriation for the expansion of Pigeon Point Lighthouse State Historic Park was included in the California budget signed by Governor Davis. This grant, allocated from Proposition 12 funds, will add more than 30 acres of Bolsa Point Ranches to the park.
"This is a great example of a public/private partnership to preserve open space," said POST President Audrey Rust. "The Water Conservation Board and Proposition 12 grants will provide $15 million toward the $39 million acquisition of Bolsa Point Ranches.
"This public funding would not have been possible without the support of POST's private donors. Their gifts provided the initial funds needed to acquire the property and created the opportunity for us to obtain the matching funds and other public moneys needed to complete the purchase."
Bolsa Point Ranches is one of the major properties being protected through POST's $200 million "Saving the Endangered Coast" campaign, launched in May with two $50 million gifts from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.