Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” Since 1997, LandWatch has inspired residents to create Monterey County’s future.

LandWatch’s mission is to enhance Monterey County’s health and environment through science, law, and grassroots advocacy. Our work spans land and water use, climate change, groundwater sustainability, community health, and social inequities in housing and infrastructure. We strive to balance sustainable development, conservation, and the needs of current and future residents with a view toward the next generation.

By fostering public participation in planning, we connect people to government, address human needs, and conserve precious natural resources.

Over the past 25 years LandWatch has led efforts to:

• Support housing that is affordable to local working families;
• Preserve productive farmlands and agricultural jobs;
• Ensure that water, roads, and other infrastructure are sufficient for new growth;
• Establish urban growth boundaries to prevent sprawl, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and spur infill development; and
• Make local government more effective, efficient, and accountable.

As a microcosm of the state, Monterey County is an ideal laboratory for LandWatch’s work, serving as a model for other California communities and our state.

Over the next two years as local governments update their Housing Elements and General Plans, LandWatch will advocate for citycentered housing that meets the needs of Monterey County’s working families and individuals. LandWatch’s “Housing for All” initiative is a countywide coalition of business, social justice, and other interests that supports more housing in urban areas, especially in Peninsula communities where the workforce commutes from distant locations to support the hospitality industry. LandWatch’s planning principles, if adopted by local governments, will make housing in Monterey County more affordable to workers and more climate-friendly.

To learn more about LandWatch, please subscribe to our free e-newsletter at https://landwatch.org/about/e-newsletter/

Please donate generously to this worthy organization.