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MALT's $4 Million Boost from a Friend
Marin Inedependent Journal
Monday, May 6, 2007

The Marin Agricultural Land Trust certainly knows the value of real estate, especially when it comes to location.

MALT, one of the oldest land trusts in the United States, has big plans for this year. It wants to spend $13 million acquiring agricultural conservation easements on about 5,000 acres of farmland in West Marin.

That is how MALT has protected 38,000 acres of Marin farmland on 58 farms and ranches from development over the years. MALT's success has inspired other land trusts in California, including Sonoma County's.

But MALT can't preserve more of West Marin's agricultural flavor and history without money.

MALT officials received some bittersweet news recently in the form of its largest donation ever.

Robert Held, a delightful character of a man who had attended MALT events for the past decade, died Feb. 18 . He left his Mill Valley home to the land trust.

The French Normandy chateau-style home was built in the 1920s and is perched on a third of an acre - a tiny speck of land by MALT standards - on a hill in Mill Valley with views of Mount Tamalpais and San Francisco. Held, who was about 90, directed in his will that the home and its surrounding gardens be sold and all the proceeds go to MALT. The home is valued at $4 million.

Mr. Held's generous gift - his home was known as "Robin Hill'' - also illustrates the contrast between West Marin and the more densely populated cities and towns in the rest of the county. That small slice of real estate in a prime spot in Mill Valley will enable MALT to keep more than a thousand acres, perhaps 2,000, from ever being subdivided in West Marin. Farmers get an infusion of cash that allows them to keep working the land. There are still big challenges facing farmers in the county, but MALT's formula has worked well over the years. In fact, it has worked so well that MALT has no difficulty spending all the money it raises.

Robert Berner, MALT's executive director, said Mr. Held's gift came at a "critical time."

The land trust lost an old friend, but his devotion and generosity will help MALT keep preserving large swaths of Marin's agricultural past and present. That's quite a legacy - and an enduring gift to all of us.

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