As district director for Senator Laird, Kara Woodruff works closely on key issues like climate change.

When Kara Woodruff was a kid roaming around the San Clemente Canyons of San Diego, horned lizards covered the trails that she would hike. “They were ubiquitous in the canyon,” she recalls. Years later, those lizards had entirely vanished, the stark contrast becoming a distinct moment in her life that shifted her way of thinking, eventually becoming a passion for conservation and biodiversity.

Today, Woodruff is the district director for Senator John Laird, which includes Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Clara counties; but she has worn a number of hats. She’s a mother, an attorney, a financial planner and former project director for national nonprofits. She's worked for the American Land Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy, and has numerous conservation projects under her belt, that include the 83,000-acre Hearst Ranch in San Simeon in San Luis Obispo County.

“All the issues facing California directly come into play in Monterey County,” Woodruff says. This Friday, Oct. 4, she’ll be speaking about conservation wins and goals at the 2024 Central Coast Bioneers Conference, held in the famous Octagon Barn in San Luis Obispo.

Weekly: What makes this district unique to you?

Woodruff: It’s the most beautiful place in the world, right? The Central Coast is about as good as it gets. There’s so much natural beauty to explore. There’s so much to do. It’s a wonderful location to visit. And the agriculture production on the Central Coast is world class; we grow the world’s best strawberries.

We just have to figure out a way to keep it beautiful – and keep housing available.

Yes, we have to be thoughtful. And it can’t just be a place where only rich people can live. It has to support a diversity of human activity and innovation, and there are a lot of really wonderful things happening here.

What are some of the main projects you’re focused on right now?

At the top is housing affordability. It is really hard for working people to have enough money to live in the home they want to live in. I serve on the ECHO homeless organization in San Luis Obispo County, but John Laird has been really involved in homeless problems and solutions in Monterey and Santa Cruz. There’s this effort to accommodate the needs of humans, but also do so in a way that’s reflective of the needs to protect our air, our water, our natural areas and biodiversity of life.

You mentioned that Monterey County in particular is a place with a lot of climate issues converging. Can you speak a bit more to that?

Different parts of Monterey will be impacted differently. Those who live near the coast are going to be impacted by rising seas. In the interior parts, climate change can impact agriculture. As temperatures change, that might impact the kind of crops that are viable in the Salinas Valley.

Where do you think climate stands as a priority in the state legislature?

It’s extremely important. If people think life is expensive now, it’s only going to get more challenging. Every time we see these extreme climate events, lives are lost, infrastructure is destroyed, and all those things are so expensive to rebuild.

We’re working on repairing and strengthening roads, bridges, neighborhoods. There are groups working on ways to create more nature-based solutions so that the creeks have more vegetation to absorb some of the precipitation so that we don’t see flooding. The other thing we have to think about are the causes of climate change.

That’s a lot. What do you do when you’re not working?

When I’m actually not working. I probably spend the majority of my time outside hiking trails with my partner and my dogs.

What would be your “Word of the Year”?

Momentous. Personally, because so many significant things have happened. My father passed away, my mother passed away. My older daughter got married. I’m getting married. We just adopted a new dog.

Professionally, so many wonderful things have happened in the district. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is on the eve of being designated after decades of work. That’s wonderful. About 250 people who were formerly homeless now have permanent housing in San Luis Obispo County this year alone. To witness real positive change happening is really rewarding.