Published September 4, 2025
Many of the land purchases Midpen makes today in the highly populated and developed region tie back to the first phrase of our mission: Protecting and connecting a regional greenbelt.
The recent purchase of a nearly 275-acre property a few miles west of Skyline Boulevard, in the hills above the town of La Honda, fills in a gap in the greenbelt ringing the Bay Area.
Midpen was able to make the purchase using funds from Measure AA, a bond passed by local voters in 2014 specifically to support open space projects in Midpen’s Vision Plan, including preservation of the upper San Gregorio Watershed.
The property includes two intermittent streams within the headwaters of the watershed that provide excellent potential habitat for some of our region’s most iconic rare species: the threatened California red-legged frog and the endangered San Francisco garter snake.
The property’s grasslands, which the previous owner grazed with cattle, are prime habitat for American badgers – a species of special concern that Midpen has been studying in nearby preserves. Badgers are wide-ranging and need protected and connected patches of grassland away from development and roadways for burrowing and hunting. The property also includes 44 acres of second-growth redwood forest, now protected in perpetuity.
Given the land’s prior grazing history, Midpen is evaluating the potential of adding the property to its conservation grazing program and determining what new or improved grazing infrastructure would need to be put in place to ensure cattle do not wander onto surrounding private property or sensitive preserve areas.