Kicking off the CLN 3.0 Steering Committee!
On May 29, 2025, forty people gathered at the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley. Some participants had been there before, some were new. Everyone was curious about what the day would be like.
The gathering was the first meeting of the Conservation Lands Network 3.0 project Steering Committee. The Conservation Lands Network (CLN) is a regional strategy that sets goals, tracks progress, provides tools, and catalyzes on-the-ground land conservation in the San Francisco Bay Area. The CLN articulates two types of science-based and community-driven goals: a set of five overarching regional conservation goals and a much larger set of habitat-specific goals.
One thing that makes the CLN unique is that the Bay Area conservation community actively participates in its creation. And that’s where the Steering Committee comes in. The purpose of the Steering Committee is to provide oversight on all aspects of the project, including ensuring the scientific integrity of the project, providing guidance on what new data should be included and interpreted, involving key stakeholders, and developing final recommendations.
We’re so excited by who is on the 3.0 Steering Committee! This group of people bring a range of perspectives and lived experiences. Some have been involved in the CLN since its inception, others are getting oriented to it now. All are volunteering their time to ensure that the CLN achieves its goals and advances the region’s work to conserve 50% of lands by 2050.
The CLN 3.0 Steering Committee members are:
- Allison Schichtel, Sonoma County Ag & Open Space
- Anna Weinstein, Solano Land Trust
- Becky Bremser, East Bay Regional Park District
- Ben Botkin, San Francisco Estuary Partnership/MTC
- Ben Teton, Santa Clara Valley HCP
- Carrie Schloss, The Nature Conservancy
- Dan Rademacher, GreenInfo Network
- Dina Robertson, East Bay Regional Park District
- Emily Corwin, San Francisco Estuary Institute
- James Wilson, John Muir Land Trust
- Jessica Davenport, State Coastal Conservancy
- Joe Issel, San Mateo RCD
- Kellyx Nelson, San Mateo RCD
- Kirk Lennington, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
- Kyle Pinjuv, Sonoma Land Trust
- Laura McLendon, Sempervirens Fund
- Lena Pollastro, Land Trust of Napa County
- Linda Kwong, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority
- Lisa Lomba, John Muir Land Trust
- Lisa Lurie, Santa Cruz County RCD
- Mark Bibbo, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
- Mark Kalnins, State Coastal Conservancy
- Matt Freeman, Matt Freeman Consulting
- Matt Gerhart, Northern Virginia Conservation Trust
- Mischon Martin, Marin County Parks
- Nancy Schaefer, California Rangeland Trust
- Neoma Lavelle, East Bay Regional Park District
- Peter Cowan, Peninsula Open Space Trust
- Rebecca Johnson, California Academy of Sciences
- Robin Grossinger, Second Nature Ecology and Design
- Sara Press, Save the Redwoods League
- Stu Weiss, Creekside Center
- Tom Gardali, Audubon Canyon Ranch
- Tosha Comendant, Land Trust of Napa County
- Tristen Brenner, Marin Agricultural Land Trust
The meeting on May 29 was intentionally designed to build community, ground the attendees in the goals of CLN 3.0, and spark momentum for the work ahead. Through storytelling, presentations, and discussion, we got oriented to the project’s purpose, timeline, and roles, and began exploring how CLN 3.0 can evolve to meet today’s conservation challenges, including stewardship, wildfire resilience, and urban biodiversity.
Building a culture of joy, connection, and learning on the Steering Committee is important to us. To go beyond just talking about it, we nominated three Steering Committee members to serve as officers of these values. They’re charged with bringing these values into our meetings, pausing to reflect on them when needed, and to work with the project team to embody them in the project’s meetings and activities.
We’re thrilled to introduce:
- Officer of Enthusiasm, Matt Freeman
- Officer of Connection, Tosha Comendant
- Officer of Learning, Ben Botkin
Learn more about the CLN here. Peruse the CLN reports, maps, and data here. Questions? Email us at [email protected]
