Trust buys SLO County land to ‘mend tears in the fabric’ of Los Padres National Forest
More than 1,100 acres of land have been added to Los Padres National Forest in San Luis Obispo County through the work of a Colorado-based nonprofit organization that buys private property and transfers it to the federal government.
The Wilderness Land Trust began buying up the land piece by piece beginning in 2010.
In late November, the trust acquired a 148-acre property — bringing the total to 1,108 acres.
In each case, after buying the property, the trust transferred it to the U.S. Forest Service to be added to the national forest and possibly designated as wilderness.
These parcels of new Los Padres National Forest land are adjacent to the Santa Lucia and Garcia wilderness areas near Trout Creek and accessible via Hi Mountain Road and the Garcia Ridge Trail, roughly 15 miles east of San Luis Obispo.
“We work to mend tears in the fabric of these protected spaces to save it from future potential development and also alleviate the management headaches faced by the Forest Service,” said Margosia Jadkowski, director of marketing and communications for The Wilderness Land Trust.
The organization hopes that the land can be set aside as wilderness areas and therefore forever protected from development.
Because designated wilderness areas hold the highest levels of protection from development granted by the federal government, they take an act of Congress to create.
Land acquisitions by the Forest Service can take years to complete, whereas The Wilderness Land Trust is able to move through the process quicker, according to Becky Brand, the Forest Service’s realty specialist for the Pacific Southwest region.
Once the land is bought by The Wilderness Land Trust, the organization works to restore it to its natural characteristics — which can include removing fences, old developments and any hazards, Brand said.
When it’s ready to be transferred to the Forest Service, the federal agency does its own due diligence to ensure the property is fit to be added to a national forest.
Brand said that the Forest Service generally appreciates the work by The Wilderness Land Trust because it helps further its mission to protect and manage wildlands.
“If a private property owner were to continue owning the property, they would always have the opportunity to build something on it,” she said. “By adding these properties to our national forests, we’re protecting landscapes and watersheds like the Trout Creek that is incredibly important for all kinds of endangered species.”
The Trout Creek watershed is important habitat for endangered California condors and possibly threatened California red-legged frogs, according to Brand. The newly added national forest land also helps protect the planned 400-mile Condor trail that stretches from north of Big Sur to Lake Piru in Ventura County.
Jadkowski said The Wilderness Land Trust will continue its work to buy and transfer private properties to the public in the Los Padres National Forest to increase the connectivity of the protected land.
“These are really special landscapes that carry really special meaning and stories,” she said. “Wilderness means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. We just want to help protect it so future generations can enjoy it.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Trust buys SLO County land to ‘mend tears in the fabric’ of Los Padres National Forest."
