A Letter from Our Executive Director

December 15, 2021
2021 was a year of incredible growth and change for our organization. Our Executive Director, Matt, recently took some time to reflect on major highlights from the past 12 months out on the trails.

It’s been quite a year over here at the Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship. With your support, we have accomplished so much. This year, we:

  • Rebranded the organization to better reflect the work we are doing to support all trail users.
  • Grew our team so that both our professional SCMTS Trail Crew and volunteers can do more work on the trails than ever before.
  • Opened two new world-class asphalt pump tracks at opposite ends of the county to get even more people outside.
  • Worked alongside State Parks to rehabilitate the fire-scarred Fall Creek Unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and get this park back open faster.
  • Worked through COVID’s challenges, and were still able to get a ton of safe, fun volunteer work done.
  • Hosted 70+ events attended by 400+ volunteers, and many of these events were led by volunteers independently.
  • Perhaps most exciting, we have partnered with the Bureau of Land Management to open up Cotoni-Coast Dairies for public access. We’re leading new trail development, and as of this month, we have broken ground on 19 miles of trails in one of the most breathtakingly scenic places on the Pacific Coast (no lie).

You made these things happen with your support. I hope you recognize the impact that you have made in improving access to the outdoors in our region and that you will consider making a contribution this year to make an even bigger difference.

We have our sights set high for 2022 and beyond. Last month, we launched our Timeless Trails campaign to create new trail access and better steward more local trails than ever before. This campaign will fully fund 19 miles of new trails at Cotoni-Coast Dairies to open these 6,000 acres to the public for the very first time. It will also help reopen beloved Big Basin Redwoods State Park, bring new trail improvements to Wilder Ranch State Park, and allow us to expand our community-driven trail stewardship to new areas.

Several generous donors have stepped up to match the first $100,000 contributed to Timeless Trails by the end of 2021. Take a moment to reflect on what our local trails have brought you this past year. Solace? Escape? Energy? Community? Good Health and Good Cheer? All of the above? Now is your chance to double your impact in investing in these returns for years to come. Don’t delay–Timeless Trails await.

Thank you for making the Santa Cruz Mountains such a special place. Wishing you happy trails in 2022.

Best regards,

Matt De Young

Executive Director, Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship

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