With a sizeable grant from the Coastal Conservancy secured, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust appears set to preserve the 330-acre Gallagher Ranch, northeast of Point Reyes Station, by the end of the year. 

The $1.5 million conservation easement will facilitate a consolidation of ownership of the ranch, which is now owned by five cousins. Without the funds, the land would have to be sold. Now, brothers Kevin and Paul Gallagher plan to buy out the others.

“It’s one of the last Gallagher ranches owned by a Gallagher,” said Katie Gallagher, who is married to Kevin. The ranch lies between Black Mountain and Point Reyes Station, and has been in the family since 1875. The family previously owned other ranch lands, and the park owns one adjacent property, the Edwin Gallagher Ranch.

The Gallagher Ranch operated as a dairy from the late-19th century until about 1985, when it was converted to grazing land. The Giacomini family grazes cattle on the pasture today, although the Gallaghers hope at some point to restart their own agricultural operation, perhaps cattle or even row crops.

Brothers Bob and George Gallagher owned the ranch for decades, and when they and their spouses died, ownership was divided: 50 percent to Bob’s three children and 50 percent to George’s two sons. 

George’s sons, Kevin and Paul, want to keep the ranch in the family; Kevin and Katie live onsite and run day-to-day operations. But the cousins did not want to invest in upkeep and operations, so the pair needed funds to buy them out.

Without the easement, the property could have been developed into five estates, according to the conservancy. The ranch appeared in a story in the real estate section of the San Francisco Chronicle a few years ago and it has been on and off the market for years.

Unlike some other MALT easements, Paul told the Light, this one will not fund improvements; rather, it will all be used to buy out the cousins. The process has been peaceful with the cousins, he added. But, he said, “That’s what’s tough about this—to keep [the ranch] together without capital improvements.”