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’t know it then, but those early days outside would shape the course of her life—and eventually help protect tens of thousands of acres of California’s most beloved open spaces.
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.
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.
“I realized in my 20s that not all kids get to grow up with the kind of access to nature that I had,” she said. “That really pushed me to make sure these incredible places still exist—for wildlife, for local food production, and for the physical and mental health that nature provides.”
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’s degree in animal science before pivoting toward land stewardship. She went on to complete a master’s degree in general agriculture with a focus on watershed hydrology and soil conservation in 2003.
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—and to be closer to Terry.
“I had two big reasons to come back,” she said with a laugh.
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.
Among the accomplishments she’s 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.
Six years later—after navigating environmental hurdles, construction costs and even learning the intricacies of building parking lots—the preserve opened to the public. It now welcomes more than 185,000 visitors every year.
“My kids call it ‘Mommy’s Mountain,’” Dettman said. “It’s a beloved place for the whole community.”
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—one of several unexpected links back to Santa Cruz County.
Though Dettman’s 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—who, like their mother, love exploring the forested hillsides. She also collaborates closely with the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County through statewide conservation boards.
“I do feel like I’m giving back to Santa Cruz County,” she said. “We trade lessons learned all the time.”
Her journey from SLV student to regional conservation leader has been shaped by countless mentors, colleagues and family members—including her father, who worked on steelhead conservation in Monterey County, and her husband, whom she called her steadfast supporter in an often-demanding profession.
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.
For all her achievements, she is quick to shift credit back to her team and the volunteers who power the Land Conservancy’s work.
“There’s no ‘I’ in team,” Dettman said. “I feel bashful accepting the award because everything we’ve done, we’ve done together. This recognition reflects all of our efforts.”
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.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished,” she said. “And I feel so lucky that my upbringing in Santa Cruz County gave me the tools—and the inspiration—to do the work.”
