Stevens Canyon Ranch - Peninsula Open Space Trust

Bob & Jean AnnAugsburgerMake Major Giftto CampaignAs one of POST’s founders and its first executivedirector, Bob Augsburger has a uniqueappreciation for where POST has been andhow far it has come, particularly with respect to itsinvolvement on the San Mateo Coast. He and his wife,Jean Ann, recently demonstrated their ongoingsupport through a Council Circle level gift to ourSaving the Endangered Coast campaign.“While we have always made modest annualgifts to POST to support operations, we have neverseriously considered a major gift, figuring that Bobhad already given at work,” Jean Ann observes with atwinkle in her eye. “However, having led POST over tothe San Mateo Coast, we just couldn’t sit back and notparticipate in this campaign, even though we haveother philanthropic interests. The wonderful workdone by Audrey Rust and her staff and the POSTBoard deserve what support we could give.”The Augsburgers, who have three grown childrenand four grandchildren, now live in the Sequoiascommunity in Portola Valley, literally right next doorto Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, POST’s firstmajor project. “I can walk out my back door and I’m75 feet from Windy Hill,” Bob says. He remains activein the Stanford Historical Society, having served asvice-president for business and finance at Stanfordfrom 1971 to 1977.Bob recalls the circumstances that led POSTto turn its attention to the Coast. Early attempts bycitizen activists to expand the Golden Gate NationalRecreational Area southward along the San MateoCoast in the mid-1970s had met with strenuous localopposition. Although MROSD later incorporated theSkyline Corridor within its boundaries, the Coast wasleft exposed without any funding to protect it fromdevelopment. Recognizing this vacuum, POST beganto focus on this area in the early 1980s. Land ownershipwas mapped, priorities were established, and aprogram to develop relationships with landownerswas undertaken.“In 1986, Tom Ford, who served as treasurer ofPOST, came to me and offered to give $100,000 toPOST for a high risk, entrepreneurial venture,” Bobremembers. “That $100,000 was used to acquire athree-year option to purchase 1,270 acres of coastalproperty owned by the S.H. Cowell Foundationimmediately south of Half Moon Bay. It was a criticalpiece of land and represented an opportunity to see ifwe could cobble together a combination of public andprivate funds to begin a coastal protection program.To do so required a tested, experienced fund-raiser,which I was not. I agreed to step down and recommendedthat the Board hire Audrey Rust, whom I hadinterviewed for the executive director position almostten years earlier.“What Audrey and others have accomplishedsince then has gone far beyond our wildest dreams. JeanAnn and I are delighted that we are able once again tostep up and help save our endangered coast.” ■photo © 2005 Paolo Vescia10 ■ LANDSCAPES