UCSC acquires 414 acres for conservation, farming in major land deal

UC Santa Cruz is in the process of acquiring two properties, long owned by a Santa Cruz family: one adjacent to its main campus, for conservation, and another adjacent to its coastal campus, for farming. 

UCSC became the owner of the first property — 214 acres of environmentally sensitive land adjacent to the main campus — on Aug. 20, and plans to acquire the second plot of 200 acres adjacent to its coastal campus and the Seymour Marine Discovery Center next year, the school announced this week.

The land adjacent to the main campus will be managed by the UC Santa Cruz Campus Natural Reserves and the coastal farm will be managed by the university’s Center for Agroecology. The natural reserves land will be “permanently protected from the development of housing or other administrative and academic facilities.” 

Students will participate in hands-on learning activities on the coastal farm, from field internships and wildlife conservation on the sensitive undeveloped habitat to testing new technologies for sustainable agriculture. 

UCSC Chancellor Cindy Larive said in a statement that these new properties will be transformative for the university and wider community.

“What we’re doing will protect species-rich undeveloped natural lands, provide our students with transformational hands-on learning opportunities, and expand the university’s research to help farmers sustainably grow healthy food for the region and beyond,” said Larive.  

Both properties were owned by the Younger family. University officials say they worked with The Conservation Fund and the family to transfer the properties, through philanthropic, private and public grants, but they haven’t disclosed the costs. The Conservation Fund is a U.S. nonprofit that works to purchase environmentally sensitive lands and place them under conservation management. 

UCSC spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason told Lookout on Wednesday that he wasn’t able to immediately provide information on the price paid for the properties. 

Center for Agroecology Executive Director Darryl Wong said he feels the acquisition represents the university’s investment in continuing the work of its agricultural center – considered the birthplace of organic farming. 

“I’m really excited about it,” he told Lookout. “It’s such an incredible opportunity.” 

Wong has been executive director for three years and oversees a staff of about 20 people who manage the farm’s approximately 33 acres, of which 15 acres are farmed. If the land acquisition is successful, they’ll be adding just under 200 acres. He said it’s still too soon to know what programming the university will have there and how many staff it will have to add to the team. 

“There’s lots of ideas,” he said. “With a piece of land this big, there’s so many dreams and opportunities that nothing is set in stone.” 

Wong said officials don’t know how long it will be before students and the public can visit the new land, but he said they’ll be able to start making plans almost immediately after the acquisition is finalized. 

He added that the new plot of land is “pretty different” from the existing farm at the main campus. The school’s current property is similar to the mountains and higher in elevation, while the coastal farm is flat, cooler and much more exposed. The coastal land hasn’t been in full agricultural production for a few years, he said, adding that most recently it has grown Brussels sprouts and winter squash and has some livestock. 

The Younger family has been in the county since the mid-1880s, and has owned the properties for generations. In 1973, Donald and Marion Younger donated Younger Lagoon and some of the Long Marine Laboratory property to UCSC. The lagoon is managed by the UCSC Campus Natural Reserves and the laboratory is part of the university’s coastal campus.

“This is an opportunity that is so unique and so different,” Bob Goode, Donald and Marion Younger’s grandson, said in a statement. “The university can do something pioneering and fresh, and what they do will be spoken about for generations in Santa Cruz. In recent times, our family has often thought that the properties should be connected to the campus at some point.”

The news of these two new plots comes nearly a year after the university announced the donation of a 2,400-acre ranch just outside of Hollister. The Strathearn Ranch property was added as the seventh natural reserve under UCSC’s inventory of such areas that are used for research, outdoor classroom space and hands-on learning. 

UCSC Natural Reserves Director Gage Dayton wasn’t immediately available for comment. 

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