Happy New Year from Board President, Wendy Whitson

Ferruginous Hawk, photo by Steve Huckabone

Dear Siskiyou Land Trust Community,

In these dark Winter days, I like to take time for quiet reflection. It helps me process what I’ve experienced during the year and meet the challenges ahead with energy and intention. When I reflect on where Siskiyou Land Trust is today, I know we’re exactly where we need to be- looking back on our work in 2024 with satisfaction and pride, and looking forward to the coming year with excitement and confidence.

Over the past year, our acquisitions of the Luginbuhl Ranch Preserve and the Upper Bear Creek Conservation Easement added over 5,088 acres to our permanently protected lands. We hired a new Conservation Project Manager, Administrative Assistant, Conservation Development Coordinator, four California Climate Action Fellows, and a Stewardship Program Director. The community connections we were able to build with this new capacity resulted in our most successful Giving Tuesday ever in which we took the top fundraiser spot in the entire county and had the highest number of individual donors in our organization’s history.

Looking forward, we have conservation transactions in the pipeline that will double the 42,765 acres we currently have protected. We have the capacity to engage in more active stewardship of our protected lands and are working on innovative new fundraising events and opportunities for community members to participate in our critical work. We are also on a path to finally achieve Land Trust Alliance accreditation.

It feels wonderful to be in this place, in this moment, with so much good work accomplished and so many opportunities ahead. We could not have made it to this spot without all of your support. The generosity with which you, our community, share your time, resources, creativity, and energy powers the Land Trust’s work and keeps us motivated.

Please join me in taking a moment to savor the satisfaction of meaningful work well done and the anticipation of the joyful tasks ahead.

With gratitude and wishes for all the best in the New Year,