Marks Ranch
Once earmarked as the west coast campus of St. John’s College, the 816-acre Marks Ranch, next to Toro Park in the Monterey-Salinas corridor, has a bright future as a different kind of educational institution. Instead of classrooms, there are sycamore alluvial woodlands, rolling hills of chaparral, and oak-studded meadows. Instead of professors you find educators and naturalists from the Ventana Wildlife Society. And instead of undergraduates studying books and preparing for exams, local Salinas youth connect with a wilderness area right in their own backyard, learning about how their homes and their actions are part of a larger community that includes the ocean, mountains, rivers, ranches, streams and farms.
Located less than 5 miles from Salinas, Marks Ranch presents a unique opportunity to connect Salinas Valley youth to their local landscape. Salinas has only 360 acres of public parkland for its 150,000 residents, far below the state average. With its community partners such as Monterey County Parks and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monterey County, The Big Sur Land Trust is laying the groundwork to create at Marks Ranch a vibrant public park and “living classroom” that will offer recreation and education programs to inspire local youth and families to enjoy our community’s natural heritage. Connecting kids with nature brings out a hopeful sense of adventure and reminds them that they are part of something bigger.
BSLT is also working with wildlife corridor experts to study wildlife movement on Marks Ranch, a key wildlife corridor between Fort Ord and the Santa Lucia Mountains. Wildlife corridor stewardship interns from De Anza College in Cupertino earning degrees in Biological Stewardship have been working with professional researchers to learn more about the importance of Marks Ranch as a wildlife corridor. The study data collected so far indicates that Marks Ranch plays a critical role in facilitating the movement of numerous species. This research will allow the BSLT and the County to manage Marks Ranch in a manner that ensures the integrity of the wildlife corridors, inspiring a new generation of conservationists with specialized experience in wildlife corridor identification.
For more information on our Marks Ranch project, contact Joanna Devers, BSLT Acquisitions Manager, at jdevers@bigsurlandtrust.org
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