Recent Press

Bequests: Ag Land Trust gets $4 Million Estate in Marin
North Bay Business Journal, William Jason
Monday, May 7, 2007

The Marin Agricultural Land Trust received a bequest worth an estimated $4 million, the largest gift in the nonprofit's 27-year history.

The group said it would use the money to buy conservation easements on farmland throughout Marin County. It hopes to acquire about $13 million in easements on about 5,000 acres during the next year.

To maintain agricultural activity on the land and prevent it from being converted for other uses, the land trust purchases easements from farmland owners. The organization has already acquired easements on 38,000 acres at 58 different farms and ranches and aims to acquire about 75,000 more acres throughout the county.

Most of the easements the land trust acquires are for land that is already protected from development by the Marin Countywide Plan, but the organization wants to create permanent protections in case the laws change, according to Associate Director Elisabeth Ptak.

"We have supervisors who are very supportive of agriculture, so we wouldn't expect that to happen currently, but it could happen," Ms. Ptak said.

Ms. Ptak said that while the current political climate in Marin County is pro-conservation, the county government once had a more growth-oriented perspective, which was reflected in a 1967 draft of the Countywide Plan.

"It was planning for a city of about 150,000 in Point Reyes Station with major highways coming through here and all the accoutrement," Ms. Ptak said.

The gift comes from the estate of former Marin Agricultural Land Trust donor Bob Held, who died recently. It includes a Mill Valley home currently on the market for $2.9 million.

Home | Site Map | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy