Our core pillars
STEWARDSHIP
CABS supports and educates visitors while advocating for sustainable visitation policies that protect Big Sur’s environment and quality of life. We lead data collection efforts, foster partnerships across agencies and organizations, and promote shared responsibility among residents, land managers, and visitors — all working together.
Our Stewardship Efforts
CABS has been working with community collaborators since 2018 to support the stewardship of Big Sur’s natural landscapes and cultural legacies, forging a number of efforts to ensure the protection of this special place that so many of us come to visit or call home. You can view them here:
Big Sur Pledge
The Big Sur Pledge is for Everyone. It is an opportunity for each of us to make a commitment to ourselves, each other, and most importantly, the land, to engage with Big Sur in a way that exemplifies reverence for the land and encourages others to do the same, leading by example.
Destination Stewardship Plan (DSP)
In response to growing pressures from increased visitation, CABS helped lead the creation of Big Sur’s Destination Stewardship Plan (DSP)—a collaboration developed with local stakeholders, Beyond Green Travel, and See Monterey. The DSP is a community-driven roadmap for managing visitation while protecting Big Sur’s natural beauty and supporting resident quality of life and reinforces CABS' commitment to a sustainable future for Big Sur.
Highway 1 Traffic Counter
CABS took the initiative to privately fund and install Big Sur’s first-ever permanent, real-time traffic counter on the northern end of Big Sur. The iconic route that threads 70 miles of coastline serves as the lifeline for residents, visitors, employees, and emergency services alike. This data fills a decades-long gap and offers a reliable, ongoing count of vehicles entering the region. It informs decision-making on everything from visitor management to emergency response and infrastructure planning. Data is published on our website and shared with the community through quarterly newsletters and reports.
Visitor Use Management Strategy (VUM)
A key recommendation of the Destination Stewardship Plan (DSP) was to formalize a strategy to manage recreation on federal lands. CABS helped convene land managers, residents, and partner organizations to launch the Visitor Use Management (VUM) process with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). A published VUM Strategy now guides pilot efforts, including a focus on dispersed camping along South Coast ridge roads, popular backcountry hiking trails, and day use areas. CABS continues to meet monthly with the VUM advisory group to ensure that community voices remain at the center of this work. Read the visitor use management strategy here:
Addressing Key “Hotspots” like Bixby Bridge
One of Big Sur’s most iconic and photographed landmarks, Bixby Bridge has transformed from a quiet connector into an unintended visitor hotspot—drawing large crowds and creating dangerous conditions along Highway 1 and Old Coast Road. Recognizing the urgent safety and traffic concerns, CABS led targeted data collection efforts that informed the Bixby Bridge Emergency Task Force, the Big Sur Byways Organization, and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. As a result, parking has been prohibited on Old Coast Road, with K-rails and “No Parking” signage now in place to reduce congestion and increase safety. The Destination Stewardship Plan identified Bixby Bridge as one of seven major hotspots in the area. CABS continues to focus on all hotspots, understanding that it takes a collaborative, data-informed approach to managing Big Sur’s most impacted visitor areas.
Working Together for Shared Stewardship
We need everyone working towards this same goal to create ongoing and positive change in how we all interact with Big Sur. These are just a few ways we can all work towards Shared Stewardship reflecting some of our core values that build the foundation of all CABS efforts.
Follow the pledge and commit to responsible recreation and shared stewardship of the Big Sur coast.
Community Voices
“As a resident of Big Sur, I appreciate being able to count on CABS to give voice to the critical issues that we face in a way that is well reasoned, well researched, thoughtful and solution-oriented. This has been especially true for tourism management issues. While there is still work to be done, the progress that we have made is in large part due to CABS' vigilant documentation of visitation patterns, and presentation of that data in a coherent and compelling fashion.”
— Laura Schulkind
“Land of Many Uses” – A CABS Short Film
Produced by CABS and Two Feathers Media, this short film shares the challenges we face with visitation and explores how data, collaboration, and shared stewardship can help protect Big Sur for generations to come.