The Conservancy for the Range of the Condor is a land trust. Its mission is to protect land for habitat to be used by the California Condor, but also for the many other wild animals and plants that would naturally live there.
Our area of interest is defined by the traditional flight range of the California condor.
Beyond the Village, Carmel Valley and the Sierra de Salinas Range are largely undeveloped. Recent large conservation acquisitions encourage us to try to continue this effort, helping create a “Sierra de Salinas/Carmel Valley Conservation Area.”
Our hope is to join other organizations in protecting as much of this range as possible, to restore it, and to make select parts of it public.
To that end, last year we acquired 48 acres near the Village. We aim to expand our current holdings in the outer Carmel Valley in creation of a wildlife corridor from the Ventana Wilderness through our properties to other public lands. To accomplish that, we are seeking funding to buy a 40-acre parcel adjacent to our current 260 acres, itself adjacent to the Ventana Wilderness.
Over the last five years, I have observed with continued interest the great success of the efforts of this small land trust, the Range of the Condor. The volunteer staff and board care deeply about the wild lands of Monterey County (and elsewhere), and they expend a great deal of time and effort for the betterment of the animals and plants who occupy their lands. This effort also helps the people of our region, in that when the natural world thrives, the developed world also benefits. It is my hope that their efforts can expand beyond Monterey County, to include the entire condor range.
- JEROME BURSTEIN
