50th birthday celebration
We have reached the golden milestone!
For 50 years, Sonoma Land Trust has partnered with the community to conserve the lands and waters that make Sonoma County special. Our history is a patchwork of stories from every part of the county, connected by nature.
Share your memory with us!
As we celebrate our 50th birthday, we invite you to join the celebration by sharing your stories.
Whether your connection to Sonoma Land Trust goes back decades or days, we would love to hear from you.
Selected submissions may be featured throughout the anniversary year on our website, social media, newsletters, exhibits, and special 50th-anniversary materials.
Wondering what to share?
Personal stories or reflections
– Photos from nature or Sonoma Land Trust properties and programs
– Volunteer memories or restoration moments
– Wildlife sightings or favorite landscapes
– Moments that capture what nature in Sonoma County means to you
Your stories and images will help us celebrate the people and places that have shaped the last 50 years—and inspire the next 50
History SpotlightS
Otto and Anne Teller were instrumental in the creation and success of Sonoma Land Trust. Otto donated the first property, Secret Pasture, to SLT in 1976.
Lucy and Bill Kortum were driving forces in protecting public access along Sonoma’s Coast and stopping the development of the nuclear power plant at Bodega Head. Bill was an early founder and served on the board for 20 years.
Joan Vilms was one of SLT’s original founding members who went on to work with us for nearly 20 years. She also went on to help found Napa Land Trust, Sonoma Ag + Open, Land Trust Alliance, and most notably, helped write the legislation that became California’s conservation easement law, still to this day, one of the most powerful tools we have for protecting land
Among the visionary founders was Marilyn Goode, who introduced Joan Vilms to Otto Teller, and helped to form the original group that filed for the 501(c)3. Her legacy lives on with her family ranch now known as the Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve.
Nion “Bob” Thieriot was a founding supporter who helped shape its earliest conservation vision. In 1978, the Creighton Ridge Fire destroyed his home at Little Black Mountain and in April 1979, he donated Little Black Mountain to Sonoma Land Trust as a nature preserve, requesting that it be dedicated to community education and enjoyment.
The Hafner Family is one of many families that have made a multigenerational commitment to Sonoma Land Trust. Mary served on the Land Trust board for 14 years, bringing experience as a fundraiser and community volunteer. Meanwhile, Dick leveraged his editorial and journalism expertise to support the Land Trust.
The battle over the construction of a nuclear power plant on Bodega Head was a central issue of the ’60s and ’70s that brought people together to slow down the pace of development. Had it been built, it would have sat on the active San Andreas fault line, making it a high risk for massive destruction.
Reta Lockert was Sonoma Land Trust’s first employee, hired when the organization was still a small volunteer effort with no formal office. Over nearly four decades (1983–2022), Lockert became a central figure in the organization’s growth, remembered by colleagues as the “heart and soul” for her ability to connect people to the mission and cultivate the community that sustained its conservation work.