Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/551480
In February 1989, real estate developer Tom Gray and his partners paid their first visit to the site. "It was a spectacular day," he recalls. "We were astounded to find that somehow 20,000 acres had survived intact right in the heart of one of the most beautiful, renowned and spec- tacular places in the world." Gray thought it was like a time capsule. "Here was a 19th centur y landscape that had miraculously sur vived 200 years of European occupation." The typical way to develop that much land would have been to sub- divide it into small plots, making the sum of its parts greater than the whole financially. But that wasn't what Gray and his team had in mind. "The value in the landscape was at an extraordinary scale, given where it is and how pristine it was," he explains. "So the idea was not to develop it in the traditional sense, but to set- tle the land as settlers might have, had they come across the property 150 years ago." That meant building in locations that are har- monious with the geography and climate. "We chose to 'design with nature,'" Gray says. "Meaning you look at what nature has done before you build." Geologists spent three years studying the land, creating topographic maps that highlighted "no build" zones, such as sensi- tive wetlands, grasslands and forests. "The land told us what was acceptable," he says. Sustainable building practices were—and are—used to promote eco-friendly living and to protect this vital resource. Today, 18,000 of those 20,000 acres are dedicated exclusively to conser vation. Stewards of the Land While it's true that owning Preserve proper- ty isn't in the reach of the 99 percent, it's incor- rect to think that those who do so are running roughshod over this natural land. The Santa Lucia Conservancy was created in 1995 with the mission of preserving and protecting this precious piece of California. "The Conservancy has always been a part of the fabric here," says Executive Director Christy Fischer. "When I arrived in 2011, I was in awe. I didn't know there was this much coastal prairie and native California grassland left in the state." A map of the Preserve will show proper ty lines, but on the ground it appears as one continuous open parcel. There are no fences, no streetlights and very little signage. "The developers touched the land as lightly as they could," mar vels Fischer. Of those 18,000 acres earmarked for preser vation, 10,000 are owned by the Conservancy, which also manages the remaining 8,000 resident-owned acres. "There are different levels of conservancy throughout the property," says Preserve COO Mike Kelly. "They range from residential use to zero-impact." The Conservancy brings in goats and cattle to 126 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 5 San Francisquito Flats is one subject of livestock grazing studies. Temporary, portable electric fencing allows management of large swaths of sensitive grasslands. "This land is an ecological treasure trove," says Christy Fischer of the Santa Lucia Conservancy. Photo: Christina Fischer The Conservancy brings in goats and cattle to replenish and restore lands through grazing.