Programs: Land program - over the past twenty years, sfct has protected over 36,000 acres in northern new mexico, in rio arriba, san miguel, santa fe, and taos counties, working with landowners to create voluntary land protection agreements using conservation easements. Conservation easements are legal documents that permanently protect private land, ensuring it remains pristine and beautiful for future generations which benefits the public at large. Sfct works with landowners and their families to preserve the natural environment for posterity and future generations. Sfct partners with local community groups, including the santa fe county open space trails program, the city of santa fe and others to protect natural lands and trails, and to bring new trails and open space projects to the public.
trails program - sfct has been involved in the creation of the dale ball trails, atalaya trail, santa fe rail trail, the spur trail, la tierra trails, la piedra trail and--with the commonweal conservancy--the galisteo basin preserve trails. Sfct trails program works in partnership with the city of santa fe, sfcts volunteer group, the trails alliance of santa fe, and other entities to coordinate trail development and construction, organize volunteer trail work, identify and prioritize trail linkages, promote the trails, and provide the public with trail information and access through education programs and events. Sfcts passport to trails program has provided field trips to over 1,000 fourth and fifth graders in santa fe public schools to introduce them to santa fes trail system. The grand unified santa fe trail organization gusto initiative aims to create an interconnected system of natural surface trails that allows non-motorized users to travel in a loop around the greater santa fe area, as well as between the city center and the periphery.
the dark skies program - the santa fe conservation trust, with partners capital city astronomy club and commonweal conservancy, has had many successful dark skies outreach events educating the community about the importance of the connection between land and sky conservation and the simple steps they can take to reduce light pollution. These are both large scale events with over 100 people in attendance and smaller scale events at local santa fe schools. Recent studies have shown that light pollution has significant negative impact on human health, confuses and harms wildlife, wastes energy, creates glare, and actually reduces nighttime visibility. Over six hundred people in the community have participated in our educational star parties, celebrating land conservation in new mexico and the importance of dark skies for future generations.
