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Spring
2004 Newsletter
Before there were phone lines along the handsome stretch of Indian Valley that wends west from Novato, before there was electricity to light the farmhouses there or to power the dairy equipment, even before there was a paved road for the teams of horses to haul fresh milk from the Grossi home ranch to the morning train in town, James Joseph Grossi, Sr. was milking cattle, building fences, and taking pride in the place that his parents bought in 1917. Now 92 years old, Mr. Grossi admits that he’s
seen a lot of changes over the years. One change he decided he didn’t
want to witness was the loss of the family farm which is located
at the heart of the Stafford Lake watershed just two miles from
the sprawling city of Novato. In December, 2003, he with his four
children sold a conservation easement to MALT, permanently protecting
their 870-acre Marindale Ranch from non-agricultural development. Farmland preservation is not a new concept to
Mr. Grossi. In the mid 1950’s, he served on a Novato incorporation
committee and spearheaded the effort against adding the 4000 acres
of ranchlands within the Stafford Lake watershed to the Novato city
limits. But deciding to sell his own development rights and permanently
safeguard the land for the production of food and fiber “…takes
a long time, and it takes a little thinking,” Finally, Mr.
Grossi says, “I came to the point when I thought it was proper
to do so. My best thought is to preserve it as it is.” MALT paid the appraised value of $1,870,000 for
the easement. The ranch is a mosaic of forest and grasslands that
provides habitat for wildlife, productive agricultural soils, and
some of the best rangeland in the County. It was operated as a dairy
for 70 years by three generations of the family and is currently
used to raise replacement dairy heifers and beef cattle. The easement
value was enhanced by restrictions on house size and by establishment
of a special conservation area along Novato Creek which runs the
entire length of the ranch and drains into Stafford Lake. The sale
of a conservation easement allowed the family to plan the property’s
transition to the next generation and create a ranch endowment to
help keep it self-supporting as operation costs continue to increase. Funds for the purchase came from three sources.
The Department of Conservation’s California Farmland Conservancy
Program contributed $700,000, the California State Coastal Conservancy
contributed $585,000, and the remaining $585,000 was raised from
MALT members. Mr. Grossi’s grandfather Domenico arrived
in San Francisco from Switzerland in 1892 with no English and little
money. When he discovered that jobs were scarce in the City, he
crossed San Francisco Bay and walked 25 miles to Point Reyes Station.
He worked for seven years on a ranch near Tomales Point, milking
cows and ferrying butter across the bay to the village of Hamlet
for shipment to San Francisco. At the turn of the century, he leased a 1400-acre
ranch in Olema. There he met and married Theresa Buzzini. There
the first of their 11 children was born. In 1903, the family moved
to an Indian Valley ranch, and in 1917 Domenico purchased a neighboring
property where James and his brothers and sisters grew up. Over
the years, the thrifty immigrant acquired a total of seven ranches,
four of them now within Pt. Reyes National Seashore. When the properties were divided among Domenico’s children in 1952, James, who had married Rose Halter seven years earlier, chose the home ranch. Despite the hard work, (“It was tough going,” he recalls. “All hand work. You milked the cattle by hand, you did it all by hand.”), he’s never regretted it. “I’ve had a good life here,” he admits. It was, perhaps, the only life he could have imagined. His children—James, Jr., Ralph, Ed, and Beverly—worked on the ranch as they were growing up, attended high school and college, then “selected their own futures,” as their father puts it. James, Jr. is a civil engineer; Ed raises organic vegetables and owns a wholesale organic nursery in Cotati; Beverly is employed by the U.S. Post Office. Ralph, a founding board member of MALT, now serves as president of American Farmland Trust, a national organization working to stop the loss of productive farmland and promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment. “The nieces, nephews, and grandkids all
look at this as home, no matter where they live,” says James,
Jr. His father, seated at the kitchen table, nods in agreement.
“You own a place that long, you have that feeling.”
The Lanatti Ranch, Chileno Valley The son of an immigrant dairyman, Alvin Lanatti
has never shied away from hard work. When he was just a teenager,
his father sold the dairy he owned in Petaluma, but Alvin stayed
on as a milker, then hired himself out at dairies all over Marin
County. As was the practice then, he milked cows by hand, including
the herd at the old Reed Ranch, today the site of the Kaiser facility
in Terra Linda. He would purchase a dairy operation of his own in
1956, but until recently, he never fully owned the land on which
he ran his business. The Lanatti Ranch easement is a landmark preservation
effort because it is the 50th ranch to be protected by MALT, and
it is a landmark event for the Lanatti family, residents on the
land as tenants and then as partial owners for almost 50 years.
One of only three dairies remaining in Chileno Valley, the 585-acre
ranch becomes part of eleven contiguous properties—a total
of some 7000 acres—permanently protected for agriculture.
MALT paid the appraised value of $943,000 for the easement with
funds raised entirely from MALT members and contributors. Alvin and June married in 1954, and for three
years they leased a dairy in Palo Alto on the Stanford campus. Two
years later, he borrowed money from his father and from the bank
to buy their Chileno Valley dairy business, but the rolling hills
where they would build their home and the deep valley where the
dairy is located weren’t part of the deal. The couple began
to raise a family of three daughters and two sons. In 1970, they
were able to buy part of the property, but an heir in Switzerland
held on to one quarter of the ownership. His reluctance to sell
meant the Lanattis couldn’t completely own the property or
even put it in the Williamson Act, a 10-year contract which reduces
taxes and restricts the use of the land to agriculture. Meanwhile, their children grew up and had children
of their own. Jim is a livestock dealer. Kristi works for a local
meat company. Kara Lee and her husband Frank Teixiera now own and
run the family’s 250-cow dairy. David commutes from the ranch
to work at the creamery in Petaluma, and Kathy and her two children
also live on the ranch. Their memories of growing up there, of hiking
in the hills, fishing in the streams, swinging from haystacks, and
learning to navigate the ranch roads at a young age are the kinds
of memories they want their own children to have. When it came down
to a decision about whether to sell an easement to MALT, “The
family voted that everyone wanted to stay on the ranch forever,”
June said. Last fall they finally reached an agreement with the
absentee owner and, thanks to MALT, were able to complete the purchase
of the land they has been part of their lives for so long. Back in 1936, it would have been hard for the
young milker to imagine a day more than half a century in the future
when, surrounded by June, their five children, and their eight grandchildren,
he would pose for a photo to celebrate selling a conservation easement
on his ranch to MALT. Alvin Lanatti is now 75 years old. When he retired
ten years ago, his son Jim bought the dairy business and ran it
for seven years. Now his daughter and son-in-law own and run the
dairy in conjunction with another ranch in Petaluma. But Alvin still
drives down the hill from his house to the barn every morning. He
fixes fences. He works on the road. “There’s always
something to be done,” he says. And now that he and June have
sold an easement to MALT, the knowledge that the land will always
be there, the knowledge that at long last it is theirs and their
children’s, must make the work seem almost sweet. Art is the Soul of Ranches & Rolling Hills The 7th Annual Ranches & Rolling Hills landscape
art show and sale will take place on Saturday, May 15, and Sunday,
May 16, at the Druid’s Hall in Nicasio. Curated by Dr. Michael
Whitt of Inverness and coordinated by MALT Associate Director Elisabeth
Ptak, the event has been characterized by a warmth of camaraderie
and purpose since its inception in 1996. The artists direct 50%
of the sales made to MALT. It has so far raised nearly $400,000
for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements. Some of the Bay Area’s and California’s
most prominent landscape artists participate in the show to support
MALT and the preservation of Marin County farmlands. For the first
time, the work of several photographers will also be included this
year. The special Saturday preview sale and luncheon that kicks off the weekend is always a sell-out, so be sure to watch your mailboxes in late March for the announcement that tickets are on sale. Following the preview, the show is open to everyone at no charge from 1–5 P.M. on Saturday and 10 A.M.–4 P.M. on Sunday. For information, call 415-663-1158 or visit www.malt.org/hp/events. Volunteer
Cindy Jordan It takes a big heart to give more than 400 hours
to MALT as a volunteer, but that is exactly what Cindy Jordan of
San Anselmo did during 2003. In recognition of her outstanding efforts,
MALT nominated her for the Heart of Marin Award, part of Tamalpais
Bank’s Community Outreach program supporting organizations
that make Marin County a better place to live. On December 5, 2003,
Cindy was among 24 Volunteer-of-the-Year nominees honored at a luncheon
emceed by Jan Wahl of KRON. MALT Volunteer Coordinator Leah Smith praised
Cindy for her meticulous help in the office and invaluable assistance
with Hikes & Tours, special events like Harvest Day, Taste of
Marin, and the Ranches & Rolling Hills landscape art show, and
other outreach efforts. “Along with an incredible team of volunteers,
Cindy helped MALT offer 90 days of education and outreach activities
last year,” Leah said. “These efforts teach the Bay
Area community about Marin’s family farms and inspire people
of all ages with MALT’s mission of preserving local agriculture.” Cindy worked for Pacific Bell for 28 years, retiring
in 1999. She has been a MALT volunteer for four years and such a
regular and professional presence, she is sometimes mistaken for
staff. “I want MALT to succeed in its mission because we can
not put too high a price on stopping development or paving over
the entire country. I have a deep respect for the people who work
the land. Their concerns and priorities are focused on very basic
human needs—like producing the food that goes on our tables.
They experience an essential quality of life that many of the rest
of us have forgotten about but yearn to have.” In addition to sponsoring the awards, Tamalpais Bank’s Community Outreach Program also makes an annual donation to nonprofit organizations designated by bank customers. The bank’s contribution is based on deposit balances maintained over the year. For more information or to designate MALT, contact Tamalpais Bank directly. MALT Volunteers Made Things Happen in 2003!
Development
& Easement Programs Welcome New Staff Members Robb Ollett has joined MALT as Associate Director/Director of Development, a new position that includes supervision of all aspects of private fundraising for the organization. He brings 25 years of nonprofit management experience, including 15 years as a capital campaign fundraising consultant with Ketchum, Inc. Past clients included the Boy Scout Council, California State Library Foundation, the Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame, and a battleship—the USS Missouri! Robb lives in Petaluma with his wife Jerri. His commute takes him past the working landscape of several ranches protected by MALT easements, inspiring him daily to find ways to help protect Marin’s other family farms. “I’ve always had a appreciation for the land, forests, and conservation,” he says, “but until I learned about this position at MALT, it never occurred to me that I could do something about it in a big way.” Much of his previous work required Robb to “parachute” into an organization and do a quick planning study or lead an 8–12 month fundraising campaign. But his work for MALT will be with an eye to long-term capital goals. As the cost of land escalates, the price of an agricultural easement (generally about 50% of the market value) also increases. Our last capital campaign successfully raised $10 million for easement purchases, giving us an impressive track record and a road map for future major fundraising efforts. As someone who owns a vintage Airstream trailer that he inherited from his father, Robb has always loved to journey. With his help and yours, MALT will navigate that map with vision and enthusiasm in support of the permanent protection of additional farmland in Marin. You can contact Robb at rollett@malt.org or 415-663-1158, ext. 6. Aimee Crawford, MALT’s new Easement Program Manager, will be a liason with the agricultural community and responsible for identifying public funding sources, drafting easements, and carrying out the easement acquisition program under the direction of Executive Director Bob Berner. A native Californian, she says she first realized she wanted to work in land conservation as a teenager when she saw development devastating valley oaks and permanently altering the small towns in the Sierra foothills where she grew up. Weaned on what she calls “girl empowerment” stories like the Oz books and those written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, she says, “I just figured I could do something about it.” Her desire led her to UC Davis where she majored in philosophy. It was also at Davis that her consciousness about agriculture was raised and she began a life-long interest in its preservation. Aimee received a law degree from Hastings College where she was a student editor of “The Back Forty Newsletter of Land Conservation Law” and worked as an intern for Trust for Public Land. After graduation, she was hired as a legal assistant by TPL, then as a conservation manager for Sonoma Land Trust where she was worked on all aspects of the easement program. “I decided I could stay at Sonoma Land Trust and do many things or focus on fewer things and do them better,” she says. “That’s when MALT appeared on the horizon. MALT has accomplished so much, I know I can learn a lot.” Aimee especially looks forward to meeting with landowners considering selling a conservation easement to MALT. “I really support conservation easements not only for the land they protect, but also because they allow landowners to retain ownership.” She harks back to her philosophy courses when she points out, “Easements are conceptual, but they have real impact. They’re anchored in the land.” “Plus,” she confesses, “I really want to learn how to shear sheep.” You can contact Aimee at acrawford@malt.org or 415-663-1158, ext. 3.
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