A Message From the General Manager
(Summer 2022)
As we look back, this year, on 50 years since our founding in 1972, an evolution of the emphasis on the various strands of our braided mission reveals itself. For our first 40 years, Midpen focused on acquiring land – to preserve a greenbelt of open space in perpetuity. Our permanently protected lands have grown steadily through the years to more than 65,000 acres... and counting!
Much of this acquisition was accomplished through partnerships with Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, various cities and the state, support from community groups like Green Foothills, Audubon and the Sierra Club, and most notably our nonprofit partner Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). Founded with great foresight in 1977 by Midpen as a private land trust, POST works privately with landowners and raises money to supplement public funding for land conservation.
By around 2010, the success of community efforts led by Midpen and partners to save sensitive habitats around the bay and along the ridgelines was evident. With a connected greenbelt becoming visible, the momentum shifted to creating wildlife and trail linkages.
For plants and wildlife, that means creating contiguous corridors and restoring the natural habitat to support biodiversity.
For people, it means expanding regional trails like the San Francisco Bay Trail and the Bay Area Ridge Trail, and envisioning new trails that reestablish prehistoric bay-to-sea trade routes and provide more immersive experiences in nature. Beyond the benefits that spending time in nature brings to our well-being, open space lands provide other essential ecosystem services: clean air and water; viable agricultural lands that ensure a sustainable, local food supply; trees, grasslands and soil that store carbon and the overall ability to adapt to our changing climate.
To help prioritize these needs, Midpen convened an 18-month planning process that included input from thousands of community members to create a vision plan of 54 “portfolios” of supporting projects. In 2014, voters overwhelmingly approved Measure AA, a 30-year, $300 million general obligation bond, to fund the first 25 projects. A few of the major accomplishments to date include:
- Habitat restoration and new public access at the summit of Mount Umunhum in 2017 and Ravenswood Preserve in 2021.
- Opening La Honda Creek Preserve in 2017 and the Bear Creek Redwoods Preserve in 2018.
- Restoring the lands’ natural functions so that it can provide clean air and water, carbon sequestration and habitat for plants and animals. For example, repairing old, eroding logging roads in El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve to significantly improve water quality in the San Gregorio Creek watershed, for people, fish and other wildlife downstream.
- Preserving more than 2,000 additional acres of land as public open space including grasslands and working ranchlands on the San Mateo County coast.
From 50 to Forever marks our commitment to continue protecting, restoring and managing these important natural habitats and to continue creating connections between people and nature on these lands. I invite you to join us as we continue celebrating 50 years of conservation throughout this momentous year.
Learn more about our 50th anniversary celebration
Ana María Ruiz
General Manager