Progress Update

The CCMP identifies habitat protection as a key to protecting the estuary. Since the CCMP’s approval by the U.S. EPA in 2001, over 2,800 acres of valuable watershed habitat have been permanently protected, including bay shoreline, rare coastal dunes, and riparian lands in the Los Osos greenbelt, and the 1,860-acre Maino Ranch Conservation Easement and 580-acre Chorro Creek Ecological Reserve under Hollister Peak in the Chorro drainage. The MBNEP has contributed $900,000 towards land and easement purchases with a total cost of roughly $13 million, a leveraging ratio of over twelve to one.

Sixty of the sixty-two Action Plans have been initiated, and 27 Action Plans are fully in place and ongoing. The MBNEP grant program has awarded more than 80 grants totaling over $1.7 million for projects ranging from stream restoration and pollution reduction, to funding school field trips and creating an estuary learning center at the Los Osos Library. A wide range of restoration and pollution reduction projects have been completed and many more are planned. The Volunteer Monitoring Program and the MBNEP’s education and outreach efforts continue to increase our understanding of the estuary’s health and our capacity as a community to protect it.

Our accomplishments are a reflection of the strong partnerships and community support that define the MBNEP.

An update on our 2007 Fiscal Year progress is available here.