TRAILBLAZING
Working for the Central Coast State Parks Association (CCSPA) brought Executive Director Sierra Emrick closer to the bluffs, tidepools, and 7-mile shoreline she already had ocean-deep feelings for since childhood.
“I grew up in Los Osos, and Montaña de Oro was my ‘heart park.’ The park I just loved, and—I felt—raised me and taught me lessons,” Emrick said. “I’d do anything to protect that park, and CCSPA is one of the avenues where people can be able to give back to those parks that they love, that they feel really gave them so much.”
Montaña de Oro is one of 10 California state parks in San Luis Obispo County that CCSPA regularly supports through fundraising, public awareness campaigns, restoration projects, and educational events geared toward youth and adults.
Similar to dozens of associations across California dedicated to raising funds and engagement for state parks, CCSPA operates as an independent nonprofit without “any federal or state funding by any means,” according to Emrick.
“We’re a cooperative association of our state parks,” she explained. “[Since] the state budget isn’t always the same, and goes up and down dramatically, … state parks [are encouraged] to go find a nonprofit that can kind of help them out in these low years and provide support when they need it.”
Underserved schools eligible for Title 1 funding can also benefit from CCSPA’s support, as the nonprofit’s Bus Bucks program reimburses transportation costs of field trips for grades K through 12 to four designated destinations: Northern Chumash Education at Oceano Dunes Visitor Center, the Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove, Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery at Hearst San Simeon State Park, and the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History.
The latter locale is directly tied to CCSPA’s 50-year history, Emrick said. The organization originated as an all-volunteer group under a different name—the Natural History Association of San Luis Obispo Coast—in 1976 with the sole purpose of supporting the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History, located inside Morro Bay State Park.
“[It’s] the only natural history museum in the state park system. I don’t think a lot of people realize that. It’s really unique,” Emrick said. “Out of the 280 state park units, only Morro Bay has a natural history museum.”
As the group’s reach expanded to support other natural history and education-based initiatives across San Luis Obispo County’s state parks, its name changed to the Central Coast Natural History Association in 1996. The nonprofit became CCSPA in 2011.
“It’s really cool to be part of its evolution,” said Emrick, whose previous jobs include park ranger, lifeguard coordinator, and regenerative agriculturist before joining CCSPA about two years ago.
June will mark CCSPA’s official 50th anniversary, which the nonprofit plans to commemorate with a festive donor appreciation event. The same month, CCSPA will also host its annual sandcastle building competition at Pismo Beach.
Emrick hasn’t entered the contest herself because it always seems to coincide with a longtime summer commitment she can’t break.
“I always miss it because I’m at Live Oak with my dad,” she said with a laugh. “It’s his Father’s Day thing.”
Field days to decades
Visit centralcoastparks.org for more info on the Central Coast State Parks Association, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Founded in 1976 as the Natural History Association of San Luis Obispo Coast, the nonprofit is headquartered at 202 Tank Farm Road, suite H2, San Luis Obispo.
This article appears in Get Outside – Winter/Spring 2026.