Mission

Big Sur Land Trust’s mission is to inspire love of land across generations, conservation of our unique Monterey County landscapes, and access to outdoor experiences for all.

The Big Idea

Every person in every community needs a safe and welcoming place in nature to rest, play, and connect. These vital spaces, which include community parks and green spaces, support community wellbeing by improving residents’ physical and mental health, strengthening social cohesion, fostering healthy child development, and decreasing the effects of air pollution, floods, and heatwaves.

Ensen Community Park is the culmination of a community-led initiative to create a 73-acre park and green space in the heart of urban Salinas. The 67-acre restoration phase will transform fields located in a FEMA flood way into thriving seasonal wetlands and wildlife habitat that will attract pollinators and birds. Nature viewing platforms, a network of walking bridges and trails, and interpretive signage will provide residents who live in high-density, urban neighborhoods with a natural sanctuary and numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation and education.

I was a high schooler in 2017 when I learned about Big Sur Land Trust’s (BSLT) project at Carr Lake in Salinas. BSLT’s Jennifer Vasquez shared a map of Salinas and asked me to imagine a park at its center. The area she showed me was already etched into my memory. Seeing this land from my parent’s backseat window meant we were minutes away from my Grandma’s house. To imagine it as a park, garden, and restoration area was to imagine my little cousins running up the block to enjoy a piece of nature and history I didn’t have growing up. I could imagine my Grandma having a beautiful place to walk and I could imagine taking my students there when I finally became a teacher. Seeing a healthier, greener future for my community made me more motivated to remain involved in seeing the vision come to fruition.

- Stacey Palmerin Roosevelt Elementary School Teacher