These 31 square miles of oak woodlands, savannas, grasslands, wetlands, redwood forests and stands of Monterey pine rise from 100 to 3,000 feet above sea level. They hold 54 distinct habitats virtually hidden from outside view by the surrounding ridges of the Santa Lucia Range, which plunges into the sea at Big Sur. From the 1770s, when Carmel Mission cattle grazed here, until the final decade of the 20th century, these 20,000 acres were always family-owned and escaped development despite their proximity to Carmel and Pebble Beach and a sunnier, warmer climate. 1,500 years ago that temperate weather, along with sheltering mountains that hold back wind and fog and provide abundant water and wildlife, drew native
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