Celebrating 40 Years of Bay Area Land Conservation

POST celebrates important milestone & the protection of over 75,500 acres

Palo Alto, Calif. (February 2, 2017) – The Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced today that 2017 marks their 40^th anniversary of providing innovative conservation and land protection projects to Northern California.

Founded in 1977, POST has served as a defender of the land working to fulfill their long-term vision of shaping a network of protected lands where present and future generations can live in harmony with nature.

“Looking back, it is so inspiring to see the overwhelming response this community has had to the simple idea of protecting natural lands for the benefit and enjoyment of the public. A conviction so strong that it has led to the protection over 75,500 acres of land in one of the most ecologically diverse and expensive real estate markets in the world,” said Walter T. Moore, President at POST. “There is much to celebrate, but there is also much left for us to do, as protecting and caring for the lands we have fought to protect is an ongoing need. With the pressures of today, our work is more critical than it has ever been.”

In celebration of this occasion, the organization has released a new website and video, which can be seen at openspacetrust.org/40years, and will be hosting a series of public events and opportunities to connect and celebrate throughout the year.

POST’s work has evolved from a “one property at a time” approach with much recent success coming from larger campaigns that address multiple properties, multiple concurrent conservation values, and have a broad regional impact such as Heart of the Redwoods, Saving the Endangered Coast and their most recent Farmland Futures Initiative.

In celebration of four decades of success, POST has scheduled four public events to highlight and celebrate their evolving work. These include an anniversary walk at Windy Hill, POST’s first land protection project, as well as a family campout at Little Basin, a POST-protected redwood property that has been adopted into the iconic Big Basin State Park. A 40-mile coastal bike ride will give attendees a look at the impact of their Farmland Futures Initiative, and a fun run through Calero County Park will highlight POST’s work in Santa Clara County.

Community members who visit the organization’s open spaces or attend one of the events are invited to share their stories by using the #ForeverOurBackyard hashtag on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. See below for a complete list of upcoming events.

Walk at Windy Hill
Date: Wednesday, April 26
Time: 10 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

40 Miles for 40 Years – Coastal Bike Ride
Date: Saturday, June 17
Time: 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

POST Family Campout at Little Basin
Date: Saturday, August 12 to Sunday, August 13
Time: Saturday, 11 a.m. – Sunday, 12 p.m. (Overnight)

Fun Run at Calero County Park (5K & 10K runs)
Date: Saturday, October 29
Time: 7 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Event details and registration information is available at openspacetrust.org/40years/events/.

Since 1977, the landscape on the Northern California peninsula has changed significantly as has the landscape for POST’s public agency partners. Reduced funding for public land conservation agencies, population growth, pressure for development due to a strong economy and the negative impacts of climate change, have all combined to place additional emphasis on land conservation and organizations like POST.

“Addressing these challenges is as important now as it has ever been, and POST is committed to continuing our work at the forefront of local land conservation and stewardship,” said Moore.

In response to today’s challenges, POST now works with an emerging group of stewardship partners such as farmers, and uses new tools such as agricultural conservation easements. Their innovative responses and ability to adapt in both boom times and bust, have allowed the organization to remain highly effective. Presently, POST is focused on acquiring and maintaining the critical, connective pieces of land that amplify the effects of previous acquisitions and provide multiple benefits to the broader community.

“Science, data and land use trends have led us to take a connective view of the lands that secure the health of our overall ecosystem,” said Dr. Nicole Heller, Director, of Conservation Science at POST. “Specifically, we are focused on protecting those open spaces that are essential to wildlife movement and adaptation, natural resource resilience in the face of a warming climate and creating recreational opportunities for the general public.”

To learn more about POST and their upcoming 40^th Anniversary celebrations, visit openspacetrust.org/40years/.

About POST

POST is one of the premier land trusts in the United States, renowned for their deep technical understanding of the local lands as well as their expert ability to define and implement complicated land transactions of many types. In addition to their confidential work with private landowners, POST partners closely with many public agencies on the national, state and county level to create a strong, effective network of conservation and stewardship. Headquartered in Palo Alto, POST is a 501 C3 nonprofit public benefit corporation that is funded entirely through donations from private individuals, foundations and grants. POST’s mission is to protect and care for open space, farms and parkland in and around Silicon Valley. Visit www.openspacetrust.org for more details.