A Message From the General Manager
(Winter 2022-2023)
All year long, we have been celebrating 50 years of caring for the land that cares for us and many of you have participated along the way. Thank you for your enthusiastic support!
Midpen was founded by community members just like you who saw the need to protect the nature that coexists around us. With your support, we have protected more than 65,000 acres, stretching east to the Bay and west to the Pacific, to create an interconnected greenbelt where people, plants and animals can thrive.
Last spring, founder Nonette Hanko was honored as a Bay Nature Institute Conservation Hero for her tireless work to preserve open space, as a former elected Midpen board director for 46 years and as a key force in creating the Peninsula Open Space Trust (a nonprofit, private land trust and Midpen conservation partner) and the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, our sister public agency to the south.
In April 2022, more than 800 people came out to the Bayside Family Festival at Ravenswood Open Space Preserve in East Palo Alto to learn more about Midpen and our work. In September 2022, nearly 1,200 attended the Coastside Community Celebration at Johnston Ranch in Half Moon Bay.
Throughout the year, you joined us on docent-led hikes, like our All Preserves Great & Small series, and online for fun contests and challenges and our 50 Open Stories celebrating extraordinary individuals just like you who appreciate and understand the value and benefits of open space for all.
In December, the board will consider approving the purchase of 5,100 acres of Cloverdale Ranch, located at the southern end of the Coastside town of Pescadero, forming our 27th open space preserve — a fitting capstone to 50 years of conservation and an enduring indication of what we can accomplish when we come together as a community to envision the future.
See event photos, a visual timeline of Midpen’s history and more from our 50th anniversary celebrations at openspace.org/50.