For Loveof the Land
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BSLT Fall Newsletter 2016.proof.2_Layout 1 9/6/2016 12:34 PM Page 1 FALL 2016 - QUARTERLy ISSUE For loveof tPHOhTO CeRED IT: lMICaHAEL nTROUTdMAN SOBERANES FIRE: BSLT DONORS’ GENEROSITy ENABLED FROM THE GOOD STEWARDSHIP PRACTICES TO KEEPO UR PROPERTIES AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE this newsletter goes to print, the broke out and has continued to house Cal Fire, RESIDENT estimated containment date for the the National Guard, U.S. Forest Service, P /CEO Ssoberanes Fire is late September. As this California Department of Corrections and he Soberanes Fire beast has burned over 100,000 acres, rugged Rehabilitation (CDCR) Inmate Fire Crews has profoundly A terrain and decades of accumulated fuel and equipment. changed lives and presented massively unique challenges to the landscapes. For many T thousands of men and women who have been • Arroyo Seco Ranch became the main heliport families in our community, fighting so valiantly. Two of Big Sur Land Trust’s and mobile retardant station as the fire moved the fire has been most beloved properties have been affected: south and east. devastating. Seeing people Mitteldorf Preserve has endured extensive fire come together to support • Before it burned, Mitteldorf Preserve provided damage and Glen Deven Ranch sustained minor each other during this access for crews fighting in the Santa Lucia damage. We are grateful to all the fire crews, difficult time is a reminder Preserve. As clean-up continues it will once volunteers and support personnel who have of the interdependent again provide a critical fire protection access done their best to save our lands and nature of our lives and the point to the back country. Jeannette Tuitele-Lewis communities. resilience of our community. • Monterey County is utilizing our Odello East BSLT lands in service to the community Those of us that own and manage land must also property as a temporary storage site for logs think about the interdependent nature of fire and As a major landowner in the affected areas, that are being removed from Palo Colorado our ecological systems. We live in a fire-adapted BSLT is proud to have contributed to the Canyon. landscape and good land stewardship is about firefighting effort by providing access to our Continued on page 4... managing for health. A healthy landscape is more lands for a variety of mission-critical fire fighting resilient—able to bounce back after major activities. Some of our properties are now disturbances. Knowing this gave our staff and Board playing important roles in the recovery as well. hope for our properties, but it was still hard to see the places we love burn. • Early on, Glen Deven Ranch was called into service, along with other properties in the area, We are certain that our land management practices for the fight in Palo Colorado Canyon. Crews lessened the catastrophic impacts at Mitteldorf used our water, our facilities and our land to Preserve and Glen Deven Ranch. It is likely that stage their activities. Going forward, the ranch these efforts reduced fire impacts for our neighbors will be used by Christian Aid Ministries for the as well. The nature of our work is long-term; our job next two months as a staging area for assistance is to think 10, 20, 50, 100+ years ahead. Our to Palo Colorado residents in need. BSLT’s Stewardship Director Jeff Powers continued land management and the current • Marks Ranch was used as an incident orients Cal Fire officials staging resources projects we have underway reflect our long-term at Glen Deven Ranch. commitment to maintain and enhance our command center immediately after the fire community and landscapes. Despite the daunting work ahead of restoring land and rebuilding, we are left feeling incredibly grateful. WHy BSLT SUPPORTSM PRPD AND TAMC BALLOTM EASURES nterey Peninsula Regional Park family homes with related rates for other We are grateful to our brave firefighters and all District (MPRPD) is a public agency property types – with a parcel tax at the others who put their lives on the line in service to foormed by Monterey County voters same annual rate. In order to pass, this our region. We are grateful to be part of a in 1972 specifically to protect open space measure must be supported by 66.7% of community that responds so mightily to those in M and provide recreational opportunities in those who vote in the District. The funding need. We are grateful for former staff and and around the Monterey Peninsula. The generated will continue to support parks and volunteers who have labored with us to better District covers about 500 square miles, open space within the District and an manage our lands over the past four decades. We including seven incorporated cities on the independent oversight committee will review are grateful to donors like you who understand the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Valley, Pebble the use of the funds to ensure that they are value of land conservation and help us care for the Beach and the Big Sur coast. In July 2004 spent as intended. places you love. MPRPD gained the authority through a ballot measure to approve the levy of a Parks, For more information please visit Long after the fire trucks are gone, Big Sur Land parksandopenspace.org or mprpd.org Trust will be restoring our lands, improving the Open Space and Coastal Preservation Benefit quality of life within in our diverse community, and Assessment on property owners within the BSLT believes that it is critical to preserve ensuring the health of the landscapes we depend District for up to 15 years. The Assessment this source of funding for MPRPD. We have on. As your local land trust, thanks to your support, has funded the acquisition, maintenance, had a long history of involvement with the we are in it for the long haul. improvement, servicing, protection, and District on major projects (e.g., acquisition of preservation of parks, open space, coastal Palo Corona Ranch, the Whisler-Wilson lands and facilities owned or managed by the Ranch, among others). MPRPD continues to District and is set to expire after FY 2018-19. play a key role in many of our current Without a funding mechanism in place projects (Lobos-Corona Parklands, Carmel MPRPD risks losing this revenue stream of River FREE, and the San Jose Creek Trail). If approximately $1.2M annually (out of a this funding were to disappear, it would budget of approximately $6M). MPRPD has significantly affect the quality, safety and determined that the most appropriate maintenance of currently managed funding mechanism to replace the properties and future plans for the District. It Assessment is a Community Facilities District would also force the District to scale back or special tax in the form of an annual parcel slow down many of its current plans to tax. increase local park and trail access while MPRPD will be placing a measure on the impacting their ability to partner with us. November ballot to replace its expiring Continued on page 7... PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL TROUTMAN assessment – currently $25.26/year for single BSLT Fall Newsletter 2016.proof.2_Layout 1 9/6/2016 12:35 PM Page 2 “I had vIsIons of a place that I later realIzedw as Glend even ranch.” BIG SUR: THEN IGHT SUN - A SyMPHONy By JOHNW INEGLASS July 21st, three-time Emmy-award-winning want to play my violin in the forest? But I got out Moon Hike at the composer, John Wineglass and I spent a few there, and the redwoods created a little chamber ranch I learned that hnours at Glen Deven Ranch talking about his of sorts. I started playing and the trees were the indigenous Oexperience as an artist-in-residence with Big Sur talking and it was all bouncing back to me. At that Ohlone people Land Trust. He shared the inspiration for his instant, I got it. called the moon the symphony Big Sur: The Night Sun, which will ‘night sun.’ The first premiere on October 21st with the Monterey From there I partnered with the Land Trust on movement is called Symphony Orchestra. As we sat on the back deck of several events, but I still wasn’t writing. I have the Mystery of the the ranch house taking in the breathtaking views, had several magical moments out on the land and Night Sun and it we could not know that the Soberanes Fire would one of the most significant was my first Full Moon chronicles the hike break out the next morning and threaten the ranch, Hike at Glen Deven Ranch. After our group hiked up to the ridge on destroy 57 homes and continue to wreak havoc on out to the point, The Rumsian-Ohlone native that night. I’m John Wineglass, Composer the area for the next several weeks. Here is our basket weaver, Linda Yamane, spoke while I began excited that the interview, with a post script from John on his playing my violin with my back towards the east. opening includes Jayson Fann playing his six-foot- perspective after the fire. – Carla Zilliox, BSLT While singing a spiritual song, she said the word high drum made out of a redwood tree! Jayson, a ‘moon’, and it popped up over the mountains local artist and musician, made this drum out of a CZ: You’re originally from the East Coast. What behind my head! We heard the crowd gasp. fallen tree several years ago. Jayson will be joined brought you to Monterey County? by percussionist Marcie Chapa, an original CZ: It was like you two conjured up the moonrise! member of Beyoncé’s all-female band who has JW: I feel like coming here brought my life full- toured with many other famous artists.