{"id":62781,"date":"2025-11-20T23:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T23:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/62781\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T23:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T23:08:13","slug":"ben-lomond-native-and-land-conservancy-leader-honored-for-preserving-californias-natural-landscapes-press-banner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/62781\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Lomond native and land conservancy leader honored for preserving California\u2019s natural landscapes – Press Banner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kaila<\/a>Kaila Dettman (left), executive director of the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, is honored by State Sen. John Laird and the Central Coast State Parks Association at the annual Butterfly Ball for her major contributions to conservation on the Central Coast. (Contributed)<\/p>\n

When Kaila Dettman was growing up beneath the redwoods of Ben Lomond, she spent her childhood racing through the ferns of Quail Hollow Ranch, watching baby quail skitter through the brush, and camping across the Santa Cruz Mountains with her family. She didn\u2019t know it then, but those early days outside would shape the course of her life\u2014and eventually help protect tens of thousands of acres of California\u2019s most beloved open spaces.<\/p>\n

This fall, Dettman received a major honor from the Central Coast State Parks Association, joining State Sen. John Laird as one of the few recipients recognized for significant contributions to conservation on the Central Coast.<\/p>\n

For Dettman, now the long-serving executive director of the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, the award is both humbling and deeply personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized in my 20s that not all kids get to grow up with the kind of access to nature that I had,\u201d she said. \u201cThat really pushed me to make sure these incredible places still exist\u2014for wildlife, for local food production, and for the physical and mental health that nature provides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dettman graduated from San Lorenzo Valley High School in 1997 and left that fall for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, still just 17 years old. She arrived intending to become a horse trainer, earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in animal science before pivoting toward land stewardship. She went on to complete a master\u2019s degree in general agriculture with a focus on watershed hydrology and soil conservation in 2003.<\/p>\n

Cal Poly also brought her another connection: her future husband, Terry Hooker. After a brief stint working in Redding, Dettman returned to San Luis Obispo County in 2005 to join the Land Conservancy\u2014and to be closer to Terry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had two big reasons to come back,\u201d she said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

In December, Dettman will mark her 20-year anniversary with the Land Conservancy, including 13 years as its executive director. Under her leadership, the organization has grown dramatically, expanding protected lands in San Luis Obispo County from roughly 14,000 acres to 67,000 acres.<\/p>\n

Among the accomplishments she\u2019s proudest of is the creation of the Pismo Preserve, the 900-acre open space overlooking Pismo Beach and Shell Beach. The land had been listed for private sale when she and her team launched an ambitious fundraising campaign, ultimately securing $12.5 million to purchase the property in 2014.<\/p>\n

Six years later\u2014after navigating environmental hurdles, construction costs and even learning the intricacies of building parking lots\u2014the preserve opened to the public. It now welcomes more than 185,000 visitors every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy kids call it \u2018Mommy\u2019s Mountain,\u2019\u201d Dettman said. \u201cIt\u2019s a beloved place for the whole community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other major projects include the 27,000-acre Camatta Ranch, a working ranch in San Luis Obispo County that was recently placed under a conservation easement to protect it from future development. The easement allows the property to continue ranching operations while also preserving the habitat for hundreds of species, including endangered ones like the California condor and San Joaquin kit fox. The ranch was saved from subdivision in 2024 through a conservation easement, and is now a regional hub for community science and archaeological research. Students from Cabrillo College have even used the ranch as a field school site\u2014one of several unexpected links back to Santa Cruz County.<\/p>\n

Though Dettman\u2019s work is now centered on the Central Coast, Santa Cruz County has never been far from her heart. Her parents still live in her childhood home, and she returns often with her own children\u2014who, like their mother, love exploring the forested hillsides. She also collaborates closely with the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County through statewide conservation boards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel like I\u2019m giving back to Santa Cruz County,\u201d she said. \u201cWe trade lessons learned all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her journey from SLV student to regional conservation leader has been shaped by countless mentors, colleagues and family members\u2014including her father, who worked on steelhead conservation in Monterey County, and her husband, whom she called her steadfast supporter in an often-demanding profession.<\/p>\n

And in a fun twist, Dettman once contributed to the local community in another way: as a student photographer for the Valley Press, shooting Cougar football games back in the film-camera days.<\/p>\n

For all her achievements, she is quick to shift credit back to her team and the volunteers who power the Land Conservancy\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no \u2018I\u2019 in team,\u201d Dettman said. \u201cI feel bashful accepting the award because everything we\u2019ve done, we\u2019ve done together. This recognition reflects all of our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, for a girl who once wandered the shaded trails of Ben Lomond and fell in love with the natural world, the honor feels like a full-circle moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of what we\u2019ve accomplished,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I feel so lucky that my upbringing in Santa Cruz County gave me the tools\u2014and the inspiration\u2014to do the work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kaila Dettman (left), executive director of the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, is honored by State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[37852,7,9,8,1471,179,643,37853,19639,6035,3234,27191],"class_list":["post-62781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-ben-lomond","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-central-coast","tag-community","tag-environment","tag-land-conservancy","tag-recognition","tag-san-luis-obispo-county","tag-santa-cruz-county","tag-santa-cruz-mountains"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}