A year of coastal protection: Coastside Land Trust preserves 100 acres, extends trail, promotes conservation

“Our organization was formed in 1997 by community activists who saw the development of the bluff tops, specifically here in the greater Half Moon Bay area, as detrimental to the quality of life for the people who live here who so much love the open spaces,” Chamberlain said. “So they formed our organization to acquire properties on the bluff tops and acquire them for public benefit in perpetuity. So it’s not just for people here, it’s for anyone that visits our area.”

The CLT had a busy year conducting community outreach, hosting its popular Raptorama weekend workshop and running various art shows including their July youth exhibit. Several cleanup days to restore properties and riparian habitats were vital to the betterment of the coast, most notably with volunteers collecting 4,500 pounds of trash from the Pilarcitos Creek, Chamberlain said.

Collaborating on the Coastal Trail

One of the organization’s most momentous accomplishments in 2014 was its spearheading the joint effort to create a third of a mile coastal trail extension immediately south of the Seymour Bridge and Poplar Beach.

Working with the California Coastal Conservancy, San Mateo County Parks Department and the Peninsula Open Space Trust, Chamberlain said they finished the gravel composite trail extension, in October.

“The California Coastal Trail is going to run from the Oregon border to the Mexico border and every segment of it is important to get in completely finished,” Chamberlain said. “The other nice thing about this segment is that it’s [Americans with Disabilities Act compliant], which means everyone has access now.”

As a relatively small land trust organization, the CLT serves as a vital component to statewide efforts to preserve open spaces, Chamberlain said. The CLT works in coalition with city, county, state and federal parks departments as well as with the Peninsula Open Space Trust, Pacifica Land Trust, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Chamberlain said.

“It’s a large area, our county is very large, and there’s not a huge amount of money for this type of work, so we could never compete with each other. So the niche that we fill is the willingness to take and manage these smaller properties because larger land trusts or districts would prefer to have a larger piece of land that can be easier to manage than hundreds of smaller properties like we have that are not contiguous,” Chamberlain said.

Land acquisitions

A recent example of the CLT’s collaborative work was its acquisition of 7 acres known as the Purissima Old Town site, which was donated by the state’s conservancy. The abandoned site off Verde Road was overgrown with vegetation and poison ivy before the CLT stepped in and has begun to host cleanup days to help reopen the historic land to the public, Chamberlain said.

Most recently, the CLT closed on two parcels Tuesday and another Wednesday bringing this year’s total up to nine plots of land that were donated. In total, the CLT has 163 parcels its acquired, restored and is permanently protecting as open space.

The majority of the more than 100 acres it oversees were donated, particularly the small plots near Wavecrest and west of Highway 1. Many of the parcels, that average about 25 feet by 100 feet, with some as small as 15 feet by 50 feet, originate from the Ocean Shore Railroad era where plots of land were often given away or sold for as little as $20, Chamberlain said.

As the railroad proved unsuccessful, plots sat vacant and the list of heirs grew throughout the decades. Now, many feel positive about donating these types of family heirlooms to the CLT knowing they’ll be preserved as open space, Chamberlain said.

Along with holding more than 80 acres in conservation titles, the CLT also has conservation easements on approximately 24 acres, Chamberlain said. Once the CLT acquires a property, it initiates stewardship whereby a trained team will monitor the property at least annually to ensure it’s healthy, no one is living on it and that there are no invasive plants. Subsequently, the CLT will create a long-term management plan every three years and continue to pay taxes and report to appropriate government agencies, Chamberlain said.

Showing support

The CLT had a roughly $500,000 budget last year, most of which went toward paying taxes on its land and operations, Chamberlain said. The nonprofit succeeds with the primary support of private donations followed by grants and hundreds of people who share the ideals of preserving open space on the San Mateo County coast, Chamberlain said.

“A small organization like ours could not succeed without the generosity and skills and dedication of our volunteers,” Chamberlain said.

While the CLT will continue to preserve its land holdings as open space, clean and restore habitats and promote appreciation of the coast, Chamberlain said she also hopes to continue the expansion of the Coastal Trail down toward the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Half Moon Bay.

“The nice thing about having a nonprofit is that people like myself may come and go, but the organization is always going to be here caring for and protecting our beautiful open spaces,” Chamberlain said. “It’s very rewarding to protect open space. It’s enjoyable to be outside and see wildlife and it’s very healthy, it keeps your body strong and in good health. So it’s a win-win.”

For more information about the Coastside Land Trust visit www.coastsidelandtrust.org.

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106