Advocates gather signatures for 2024 climate resiliency measure in Santa Cruz County

Article by Santa Cruz Sentinel - read full story here.

SANTA CRUZ — Local environmental advocates and community groups have begun collecting signatures for a countywide climate resiliency measure with an aim to land it on next year’s November ballot.

The measure, called the Santa Cruz County Safe Drinking Water, Clean Beaches, Wildfire Risk Reduction and Wildlife Protection Act, would levy an $87 per parcel tax across the county that is estimated by organizers to raise about $7.5 million annually in locally controlled funding.

The initiative’s self-explanatory title draws a direct line to the priorities it seeks to hone in on: water quality protection, reduction of wildfire risk, the health of the Monterey Bay and local beaches, forest preservation, wildlife habitat enhancement, protection of endangered species and improvement of parks and natural areas.

“We live in the most extraordinary place,” Sarah Newkirk, executive director at Land Trust of Santa Cruz County which is one of the organizations backing the initiative, told the Sentinel. “But our land and waters are literally under siege. We have years of drought followed by years of flooding followed by uncontrolled wildfires on top of pollution and all the other regular environmental stressors that our landbase suffers.”