Winter 2009
San Mateo Coast: Work Continues
Toto Ranch
- Our region is defined by its magnificent coastline—
it’s what shapes a peninsula, after all. With our
2001-2005 Saving the Endangered Coast campaign,
POST championed local beaches, terrace prairies and
coastal hillsides along the San Mateo Coast, establishing
a long-term commitment to these lands. That work
continues in earnest, as we build on the landmark
accomplishments of the campaign and stay true to the
promise of keeping these beloved landscapes open
and preserved for all time.
- Case in point: this year we moved $4 million
closer to realizing the dream of incorporating
4,262-acre Rancho Corral de Tierra into the Golden
Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), one of the
world’s largest urban national parks. Thanks to
continuing efforts by POST and the Bay Area Congressional
delegation—Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Barbara
Boxer and Rep. Anna Eshoo, in particular—Congress awarded this latest round of
funds from the Federal Land and Water Conservation
Fund toward the purchase of this vast expanse of land
near Montara. The money is the second installment
made on behalf of the National Park Service (NPS),
which will eventually make the property the southern
gateway to the GGNRA. Federal appropriations
approved for Rancho Corral de Tierra to date total
nearly $6 million.
- Through a generous bargain sale, POST also
acquired 952-acre Toto Ranch, east of Highway 1
near San Gregorio. Woodside resident and longtime
POST donor Kathleen Scutchfield sold this expansive
ranchland to POST for $3 million, well below its
appraised value. Besides protecting the land from
parcelization and luxury home development,
POST will safeguard the banks of Tunitas Creek,
which runs along the property’s northern border.
- This year, POST transferred several properties
to public ownership so they can eventually become
key links in hiking trails and wildlife habitat on
the Coastside. A highlight was POST’s transfer of
260-acre Bluebrush Canyon, southeast of Half Moon
Bay along Purisima Creek Road, to the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District, which will add the land
to its Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.
The property will help complete a future trail corridor
between Skyline Ridge and the sea. Although it is
years from being complete, the trail will enable
hikers to travel from the Peninsula all the way to the
California Coastal Trail.
Protecting the Natural World . . .
