Hollister Ranch Owners were pleased to invite The Nature Conservancy

There have been a couple of changes in Hollister Ranch real estate. After a long and complex transaction, the principal residence on Parcel 105 has finally closed escrow. Also, a 50% interest in Parcel 109 is now available that includes the right to designate four direct family members as Hollister Ranch owners as well as the right to build the guesthouse or an ADU on the 100-acre parcel.

For those who have inquired, we are still working to get that 1/6 interest on the market.

Over the weekend, Hollister Ranch Owners were pleased to invite The Nature Conservancy to explain their plans for our next-door neighbor, the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve. The one-time Jalama Ranch and Cojo (Bixby) Ranch together comprise over 37 square miles of the land around Point Conception. The land is host to a variety of wildlife species, as it touches two major terrestrial and two major marine biomes.

This unique natural area offers enormous opportunities for conservation, scientific research, education, and understanding of historical human ecology. In acquiring the Dangermond Preserve, The Nature Conservancy’s first responsibility is to build a nature preserve capable of protecting this irreplaceable collection of natural and cultural resources for the benefit of future generations.

 Representing The Nature Conservancy at the Hollister Ranch meeting were Michael Bell who is the director of Land Protection Strategy and Mark Reynolds, the director of the Point Conception Institute. As it turns out, the plans of The Nature Conservancy completely coincide with the goals Hollister Ranch has pursued for over 50 years. Both work toward the protection and conservation of the natural world still found along this stretch of the coastline.

What little of the natural environment that is left along the southern portion of the California coast is under attack from a number of entities, ironically including a significant recreation developer, the California Coastal Commission (“The Protectors of the Coast”).

The Commission staff pick and choose what portions of the Coastal Act to implement. Conveniently (for them), sections regarding the natural environment, agriculture, cultural resources and private property are ignored in the name of constructing a 900-mile recreational playground along then entire coast. Fortunately, more and more people are recognizing the Coastal Commission for what it is; for what governor Jerry Brown termed in 1978 “Bureaucratic Thugs.”

Both Hollister Ranch and The Nature Conservancy are doing what can be done to exclude “The Great California Coastal Preserve” from the Commission’s, or anyone else’s, amusement attraction.