The Valley Women’s Club Board has joined a remarkable coalition in support of creating The Santa Cruz Redwoods National Monument, and invites you all to attend the Thursday, February 12th meeting at the Arena in Santa Cruz to learn more and add your support. Speakers include Anna Eshoo and Bruce Babbitt…

The Monument would include over 5,800 acres of land north of Santa Cruz, originally protected from expansive development by a coalition of non-profits that pooled their resources to purchase the land. Many individuals were involved in the process of creating a management plan for the property at the time. It was impossible to turn the land over to State Parks because the Parks system did not have the financial resources to deal with the land. It was handed over to the BLM last year. There is a pretty good article in the Mercury News you may want to check out.

The VWC understands the issues involved in making sure that the land is PROTECTED, not just opened for public use, and will be deeply involved in the planning process if President Obama does declare these amazing acres a Monument, and encourages your personal involvement as well. The planning process for a National Monument includes public participation. The property is already protected from mineral extraction, off-road vehicles and timber harvests. We can help assure that other uses, from hiking to horseback riding to mountain biking, are limited, regulated and well controlled/patrolled, so that we don’t allow destructive behavior to undermine the wild areas, or the beauty of these fragile lands and waterways.