Point Reyes Light - May 27, 2004
Taking note of state bonds' contribution to open space
By Jacob Resneck
The heads of California’s Coastal Conservancy and Farmland Conservancy, along with others from Marin Agricultural Land Trust and West Marin ranchers held an event for the press at James Grossi Ranch near Stafford Lake highlighting the use of voter-approved bond money to preserve agricultural land in Marin County.
Founded in 1980, MALT has preserved 35,000 acres of agricultural land in Marin County, and protect it from development by prohibiting non-agricultural use. In the past four years, California voters have approved four propositions, raising over $10 billion dollars in bond money to be used for resource conservation.
Encroaching development
"Without MALT and the committment from the ranching families in Marin, this [county] would all be ranchettes or worse. It would all be subdivisions and strip malls, there should be no doubt about that," said Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the state’s Coastal Conservancy. The CC has been one of MALT’s principal partners, contributing $3.7 million to MALT to protect 6,700 acres in Marin County.
Schuchat pointed out that the CC received zero money from the state’s general fund, relying on voter initiatives to approve bonds, funding its activity.
"You only have to look a few miles down the road to see what this place would look like without conservation," Chuck Tyson, manager of the state’s Famland Conservancy Program told the gathering in reference to the growing city of Novato, just several miles east of the Grossi ranch. "But there’s still 80,000 [agricultural] acres that are unprotected in this county.
Since its inception in 1996, the Farmland Conservancy has helped to preserve about 2,200 acres in Marin County, contributing around $2 million to MALT which purchased non-development easements from the Grossi, Zimmerman, and Moore family ranches, Tyson said.
Population on the rise
Schuchat said that by the year 2040, the population of California is forecasted to rise by 20 million people with an additional two to three million in the San Francisco Bay Area alone. Population growth feeds demand for development, increasing the challenges faced by conservationists, he said.
"Marin County’s ag survival is not an accident," said Bob Berner, executive director of MALT. "State government in California has had the foresight to establish agencies like the Coastal Conservancy. Without that we wouldn’t be able to [preserve thousands of acres in Marin County.]"
James Grossi Sr. who was born in 1917 on land now submerged by Stafford Lake, said MALT’s work has helped make it possible for his family to stay in the ranching business.
"As you get older you want to have something for your family," Grossi told The Light. "I have four children, and I wanted to leave the ranch as it is, and then they can go from there, but without [commerical] development."
His son, Jim Grossi, Jr. agreed: "The big reason [for conserving agricultural land] is for little Luke, Jimmy, and future [Grossi] generations. [Funds raised by MALT] ... makes the ranch more viable without making it more intensive like a dairy."
Schuchat said his agency looked forward to keeping its partnership with MALT strong. "The Coastal Conservancy plans on working with [Marin landowners] at least until the money runs out," he said.