By Khalida Sarwari
The Peninsula Open Space Trust announced Monday that it has transferred 95 acres of rare wetlands and agricultural land to the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County for protection.
The Peninsula Open Space Trust is selling the county’s largest expanse of freshwater wetlands situated west of Highway 1 in Watsonville to the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County.
“We’re so grateful to POST and The Nature Conservancy for keeping this project alive and waiting out the nine-month funding delay with us,” Land Trust executive director Terry Corwin said in a statement. “The Watsonville Sloughs have long been considered a high priority for
conservation. Now that bond funds are available again, we can complete this campaign to conserve essential wetlands, farm fields and water quality in our community.”
According to Peninsula Open Space Trust executive vice president Walter Moore, public funding from the State Coastal Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Board was initially on hold due to California’s state bond funding freeze.
The wetlands transfer by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County is part of the organization’s larger acquisition of a total of 440 acres at Watsonville Sloughs.
The land, formerly known as Cheung Ranch, includes important wildlife habitats next to valuable and fertile organic farmland. The wetlands are essential in maintaining water quality in Monterey Bay and providing habitats for a variety of plants and animals including federally listed and state-listed species of special concern.