Santa Lucia Conservancy

04/06/2026

Happy California Poppy Day! May all your paths be golden.

03/27/2026

Come see us for California Wildlife Day! We have so much to show you this Sunday, March 29, at Palo Corona Regional Park. Doors open at 11 a.m., and we'll be there till 3 p.m. We can't wait to meet you and celebrate the natural wonders of the Central Coast!

01/06/2026

Wild pigs are a nuisance; they tear up landscaping, behave aggressively, and eat just about anything they find. So when a drove boldly entered a grazing pasture this week, our mama cows weren't having it. They charged down and sent the pigs running. We love our herd for a lot of reasons, and they just gave us one more. ❤️

📷 Caroline Hogan

12/30/2025

The environmental scientists of the Santa Lucia Conservancy are expanding our understanding of the extraordinary biodiversity found on Preserve lands. Often, their work brings them joy as well.

Restoration Manager Breanna Rodgers comments, “Through our inventory of streams across the Santa Lucia Preserve this year, the complexity and diversity within San Clemente Creek have been a true joy for us, as it represents the many ways that water can move across a landscape and support native species along the way. We saw fish near the highest point of the stream today! Those are likely steelhead, a population we hope to encourage here!!”

Please DONATE NOW to support the Conservancy’s work! By making your tax-deductible donation through our Monterey County Gives campaign your gift will be matched! Today is the last chance to receive a 2025 tax deduction and have your donation matched. Click here to give now https://montereycountygives.com/santalucia Thank you for your support!

Photo Credit: Suzanne Gill

12/26/2025

Do you ever get that feeling ... of awe? Redwoods will do that to you. Here's a reflection from Breanna Rodgers, the Conservancy's Restoration Manager:
“I have been thinking deeply about the interactions between people and redwoods across the Preserve and our relationship over time. Through conversations with redwood researcher Steve Sillett, we learned that some trees at the Preserve show signs of selective logging of redwoods going back to the mid 1800s by original land grantees. Today, we steward redwoods to create space for biodiversity and stand structure, preserving the big trees and their habitat into the future.”
Here's to that tall, rugged future!

12/17/2025

The Santa Lucia Preserve lies within one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots, where coastal and inland climates come together to create an extraordinary mix of habitats—from redwood forests and oak woodlands to grasslands, creeks, wetlands, and ponds. 🌿 With more than 90% of the 20,000-acre Preserve permanently protected by the Santa Lucia Conservancy, this landscape provides vital habitat and wildlife corridors for countless species.

At the Santa Lucia Conservancy, we practice adaptive land management—using on-the-ground observations and monitoring to guide conservation actions and adjust our approach as the land responds. Our work includes tracking rare and endangered species, restoring habitat, and improving ecological resilience across the Preserve. Current projects include creek and floodplain restoration, Monarch and Smith’s blue butterfly habitat recovery, and ongoing surveys for the California red-legged frog, California tiger salamander, tri-colored blackbird, and Central California Coast steelhead trout.✨

In this season of giving, consider a tax-deductible donation to the Santa Lucia Conservancy.
👉 Donate here: https://slconservancy.org/donate/

Photo Credit: Rachael Anderson

12/10/2025

Each year the Conservancy brings nearly 3,000 participants to our outdoor classroom on the Santa Lucia Preserve for lessons that integrate science, natural history, nature journaling, and art.

Informed students become environmental advocates, choose careers in the science fields more often, and become environmentally conscious decisionmakers!

Your contribution is needed to continue this critical work with Monterey County schools. In this season of giving, consider a donation to the Conservancy through our Monterey County Gives! campaign. Your donation will help pay for field trip transportation, materials, and curriculum development. Donations will be matched! Click here to give http://montereycountygives.com/santalucia
Thank you for your support!

Photo Credit: Kirsten Stember

12/02/2025

We hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday with celebration and gratitude for the love, laughter, health, resilience, and shared connections in your lives.

We are grateful for supporters throughout the Preserve, Carmel Valley, and the Monterey Peninsula who cherish the natural beauty and rich biodiversity of this region. Together, we can continue to conserve and restore the wildlands and wildlife that make this place so special. On Giving Tuesday, with your support we will:

• Share scientific knowledge of the biodiverse ecosystem through our Environmental Education Program.
• Conserve and enhance sensitive natural communities on the Preserve by conducting inventories of species, restoring native plants like buckwheat and milkweed to support dwindling pollinator populations, and manage rotational cattle and goat grazing to reduce thatch and encourage native grassland expansion.
• Strengthen wildfire resiliency by reducing ladder fuels, conducting selective controlled burning, and eliminating flammable invasive species.

Your support is needed to continue this critical work. In this season of giving, consider a donation to the Conservancy through our Monterey County Gives! campaign. Donations will be matched! Click here to give http://montereycountygives.com/santalucia

11/21/2025

Meet the California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense or CTS), on the Federal Endangered Species list since 2004 and considered Threatened in Central California. These colorful salamanders can grow to 8 inches in length and breed in ponds and seasonal pools in winter months.

The Conservancy’s work protects rare species and ecological communities while demonstrating a powerful model of private lands managed for public conservation benefit. Currently, the Conservancy is surveying areas of the Preserve where CTS have been found in prior years in an effort to protect the species and help it thrive.

Your support ensures we continue advancing science-based conservation, community stewardship through environmental education, and climate-adapted land management practices. DONATE NOW through our Monterey County Gives Campaign! Click here http://montereycountygives.com/santalucia

Photo Credit: C. Wyckoff

11/17/2025

The Conservancy is proud to serve Monterey County youth with our free Environmental Education program, bringing 3,000 participants to our outdoor classroom every year. And this fall we are also proud to participate in the Monterey County Gives! campaign to raise funds in support of our mission, which also includes support of the Central Coast's biodiversity and our strategic program of wildfire resilience for our Carmel community. Please join us! Click the link to see our profile page and donate now!

The mission of the Santa Lucia Conservancy is to protect and steward in perpetuity the unique natural, cultural, and aesthetic resources of the Santa Lucia Preserve and serve as a model of ecologically sustainable development to communities outside of The Preserve. The organization is dedicated to a...

11/14/2025

The Conservancy joins Monterey County Gives! Click the link to see our profile page and donate now!

https://montereycountygives.com/santalucia

11/12/2025

The Conservancy is offering two free community events Saturday, Nov. 22, on the Santa Lucia Preserve. Both opportunities are related to our wildfire mitigation initiatives and are suitable for ages 10 and up. Parking is provided at Palo Corona Regional Park, 4860 Carmel Valley Road. Chartered coach transportation to the Preserve will be provided. Both excursions depart from and return to the park. Times denoted begin at boarding and conclude with return to the vehicle lot.

Come enjoy this beautiful landscape!


Redwood Forest Hike
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Take a guided, two-mile hike into a redwood grove recently restored after scarring from the 2016 Soberanes fire. Beginning at the Palo Corona Regional Park lot, participants will take a shuttle to the trail entrance. The unpaved one-mile trail has an elevation change of about 200 feet. Wear shoes with a good grip, dress in layers, and carry a water bottle. After returning to Palo Corona, a tour of the park’s Discovery Center will be offered.


Wildfire Mitigation Tour
12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Enjoy a charter tour of the Santa Lucia Preserve and learn about the diversified program of wildfire mitigation practiced by the Conservancy on the 20,000 acre property. Participants will be introduced to our conservation grazing program and see a 40-acre grassland where a controlled burn was executed in October. In a developed area, staff will present defensible space principles and landscape modifications now required for homes and businesses. The tour involves a small amount of walking on mostly level ground. Dress in layers and wear sun protection.

Sign up to attend either event: https://forms.gle/qhgyjqy6TM5DpHwi9