Big Sur Land Trust secures option
for Marks Ranch
Responding to a grassroots effort to prevent development
of Marks Ranch, the Big Sur Land Trust has secured an option to
purchase the 849-acre property from St. John's College in Annapolis,
MD, and Santa Fe, NM, and California State University. The Land
Trust will have three years to raise over $5 million to acquire
the property for conservation purposes.
With rolling hills and oak woodlands, Marks Ranch is an important
link in one of the last open space corridors between the former
Fort Ord and the Santa Lucia Mountains. The Ranch was gifted to
St. John's College in 1973 by Herman Marks with the intent that
it would be used for a small campus, with all other areas remaining
as open space. The property is adjacent to Toro Park.
The Big Sur Land Trust will be meeting with members of the Salinas
and Monterey communities to seek input and participation in establishing
a vision for the property.
Preservation of this important natural area is a great victory
for locals who first organized Citizens to Save Marks Ranch.
|
