POST buys 183 Coastside acres POST buys 183 Coastside acres (March 23, 2005)

The Peninsula Open Space Trust recently acquired a 183-acre parcel of land on the San Mateo County coast between the Lobitos and Tunitas creeks.

The Menlo Park-based nonprofit bought the scenic swath of land from a private owner for $2.25 million as part of its "Saving the Endangered Coast" campaign, said Kendra Muscarella, a POST spokeswoman, in an announcement last week.

The land, which is adjacent to two other open space parcels, could become an important link in a trail network that ranges from Skyline Ridge to the Pacific Ocean, she said.

"If POST had not acquired it, two sprawling trophy homes could have been built on the flat areas along the ridge top," said POST president Audrey Rust. "Any development would have been highly visible from neighboring ridgelines and would have impeded possible future hiking connections between the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the California Coastal Trail."

POST officials hope to raise money to cover the land's purchase price by offering naming rights to a major donor.

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