Jean Schulz contributes $2 million to Sonoma Land Trust

<p>Philanthropist Jean Schulz is donating $2 million to the Sonoma Land Trust’s fund-raising campaign, hoping it will spur more donations to purchase open space such as the Jenner Headlands.</p><p>The gift seeks a dollar-for-dollar match that will boost the Land Trust’s Redwoods to the Bay campaign.</p><p>Last month, the Land Trust announced a campaign goal of $18 million with a contribution of $6 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the world’s largest donor to environmental conservation causes.</p><p>The donation by Schulz, the widow of cartoonist Charles Schulz, increases the amount pledged so far to $10.3 million.</p><p>Protection of the 5,630-acre Jenner Headlands is high on the Land Trust’s list, along with a coastal link between the Estero Americano and Salmon Creek watersheds and restoration of the fresh water and marsh at Tolay Creek Ranch.</p><p>Sonoma Land Trust funds are also being sought for expansion of trails and habitat along Sonoma Mountain and linking habitat at Mayacamas Ridge and the Bidwell Creek corridor.</p><p>“I am frankly worried about the ongoing development pressures on our lands and about our need to preserve large open spaces,” said Schulz. “I want our grandchildren and their children to be able to enjoy the same stunning vistas that you and I treasure today.”</p><p>As a private nonprofit, Land Trust is poised to react more quickly than public agencies when property becomes available in the depressed real estate market, executive director Ralph Benson said.</p><p>“This is the right time to act,” Benson said. “There are opportunities now to protect major landscapes throughout Sonoma County that we won’t see again.”</p><p>Land Trust often acts as a financial partner in securing open space land that is later turned over to state or regional park authorities or to the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. Currently, Land Trust owns about about 20,000 acres, including the 5,000-acre Baylands area in southern Sonoma County that once had been eyed for a casino.</p>