Keep Big Sur Wild
Photo Credit: The Weston Family
Between November 13th and December 31st 2025 you can help Keep Big Sur Wild by making a financial donation in the McGives! 2025 fundraiser. Click the link below to visit our page.
BIG SUR THREATENED - LET’S PROTECT IT!
Our Mission:
SERVE as a watchdog to address issues affecting the character, culture, and natural beauty of the Big Sur Coast.
PRESERVE the protections of Big Sur’s natural beauty and the public’s access to see it, provided in the 1986 certified Big Sur Land Use Plan.
EDUCATE the broader community of the uniqueness and fragility of the Big Sur coast.
ENHANCE the current protections by seeking action to assure the preservation, in perpetuity, of its wilderness character and environmental integrity.
PROTECTING THE PLAN THAT PROTECTS THE COAST
Learn About the Big Sur Land Use Plan
The Big Sur Land Use Plan is more than a policy document—it is a promise made to protect one of the most extraordinary stretches of coastline in the world. Yet many people, even within our own community, are unfamiliar with its protections and why they matter.
We invite residents, visitors, and the broader public to take the time to learn what the LUP says, why it was written, and how it continues to safeguard Big Sur from the pressures of unchecked development. A better understanding of the Plan helps everyone—neighbors, policymakers, and travelers alike—become stewards of this unique place.
KEEP BIG SUR WILD is committed to making the LUP accessible and understandable. We will share resources, host discussions, and highlight real-world examples of how the Plan works in practice. By building awareness together, we can strengthen the community’s voice and ensure that Big Sur’s wild character endures.
Enjoy some recent interviews from Magnus Toren of the Henry Miller Library with Keep Big Sur Wild Co Founder Marcus Foster and community member Dave Smiley
Listen to an interview with Tim Green of Keep Big Sur Wild and Rachel Anne of KSQD
Read Andrew Pridgen’s 10/25/23 San Francisco Gate article titled: Update of 40-year-old land use plan sparks fears in quiet Big Sur
Key Policies of the
Big Sur Land Use Plan
THREATENED PROTECTIONS IN THE CURRENT LAND USE PLAN
“To preserve for posterity the incomparable beauty of the Big Sur country, its special cultural and natural resources, its landforms and seascapes and inspirational vistas. To this end, all development must harmonize with and be subordinate to the wild and natural character of the land.”
— LUP Section 2.1 - Philosophy and Goals
“The basic recreational resource of Big Sur is the visual beauty of its striking landforms and unspoiled landscapes.”
— LUP Section 5.1.3 -Land Use and Development
“Maintenance of the quality of the natural experience along the Big Sur coast has precedence over development of any permitted uses, whether residential, recreational or commercial.”
— LUP Section 3.1 -Resource Management
"The County's purpose will be to maintain and enhance the highway's aesthetic beauty and to protect its primary function as a recreational route".
— LUP Section 2.2.3 -Objectives and Policies
“The protection of visual access should be emphasized throughout Big Sur as an appropriate response to the needs of recreationists.”
— LUP Section 6.1.3 -Key Policy
“Future land use development on the Big Sur coast should be extremely limited, in keeping with the larger goal of preserving the coast as a scenic natural area. In all cases, new land uses must remain subordinate to the character and grandeur of the Big Sur country. All proposed uses, whether public or private, must meet the same exacting environmental standards and must contribute to the preservation of Big Sur's scenery.”
— LUP Section 5.4.1 -Key Policy