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Summer 2002 MALT Helps Create Bay
Area Stewardship Standards MALT Helps Create Bay
Area Stewardship Standards All organizations that
hold easements, whether they safeguard farmland, natural resources,
or scenic vistas, assume a host of "easement stewardship"
responsibilities, including monitoring conditions on the properties,
maintaining good communications and relations with landowners, and
ultimately defending the easement in court if necessary. (A conflict
could arise, for instance, if an easement-protected property is
sold and the new owner builds residences that are prohibited by
the easement.) In an effort to help
land trusts increase their abilities to shepherd easements over
time, the Bay Area Open Space Council (BAOSC), an association of
local land trusts, initiated the "Model Easement Stewardship
Program" two years ago. In the first phase of the program,
MALT, The Land Trust of Napa County, and the Peninsula Open Space
Trust-three established trusts with varying stewardship experiences-were
evaluated by BAOSC staff with an eye toward best practices. This
analysis found MALT's stewardship programs to be excellent in many
ways, especially with respect to baseline establishment and monitoring
methods. In the second phase
of the program, which is currently underway, MALT staff are adopting
suggestions and developing additional strategies identified in phase
one. For example, we are developing a process to ensure that our
important documents and photographs will not meet an untimely end
from fire, flood, mold, and the like. In the third phase of the
program, a team of land trust and legal experts will evaluate the
revamped stewardship programs of the three case studies. The result of this work
will be a publication from the BAOSC describing the Model Easement
Stewardship Program and the results of the expert evaluations. It
will also outline a generic protocol for creating and managing stewardship
programs that can be used and adapted by virtually any holder of
conservation easements. We're excited that MALT's experiences will
help strengthen the conservation efforts of other organizations
and look forward to boasting a state-of-the-art easement stewardship
program in the near future. White Clippers on a
Sea of Grass Yet our barns do not
evoke the image of a "classic" barn: the red, gambrel-roofed
structure that's an iconic symbol of rural America. North Coast
dairy barns tend to be wedges rather than humps, more ship than
ark. And in our painted examples, the color is almost always white
rather than red. Our barns seem to sail
across hilly seas of grass, white clippers gliding before the wind.
The steady, even rooflines, the unbroken white walls, the comfortable,
confident presence, occupy both our reality and imaginations. We
are not a farming community without them. Farmers in the East
and Midwest gave their barns gambrel-shape roofs (a gambrel is an
angled hook from which meat carcasses are hung, and it's also the
outwardly angled back leg of a horse) in order to house as much
hay as possible. The rooflines begin steeply, then bend shallowly
toward the peak. The result is a kind of bent elbow shape that creates
extra storage space. Here, many of our dairy
barns are shaped exactly the opposite: the roofline to the peak
of the barn is pitched steeper than the roof nearer the barn's outside
walls where milking stalls were located and not as much head space
was needed. Hay was stored in the center of the barn. Many local
barns feature no angle at all in the roofline except for the 30-degree
pitch of each side because our barns don't have to bear snow-weight.
The wedge shape also
proved to be a good way to deflect wind, which tends to slam into
and wash over the classic barn shape. Our barns, and those built
in wind-swept Wyoming, Utah, eastern Oregon, and Washington parry
the wind rather than buffet it. Early on, farmers learned to site
these barns with the long side parallel to the slopes of hills,
since wind tends to blow up and over hills rather than around them.
Charles Leik, editor
of The Barn Journal (www.thebarnjournal.org), says the dairy barn
is really the last of the various types of American designs to become
established. Prior to the Civil War, dairying was a very local business,
so local, in fact, that a great deal of milk wound up in hog slop
or in cheese because it couldn't be shipped or stored. Small dairies
producing butter and cheese operated all around our area. But the
emergence of national railroads with refrigerated rail cars created
a true dairy economy. Now farmers could raise larger herds and sell,
year round, all the milk the cows produced. Quickly, the stall-lined
dairy barn built for twice-a-day milking, was born. Beginning in the 1880s,
white became the preferred dairy-barn color. Government inspectors
wanted to see sanitary facilities; white encouraged a sanitary feel.
In fact, some certification programs required whitewashed barns
inside and out. (Red is the traditional color for hay and livestock
barns elsewhere in America because in the 18th and early 19th centuries,
before commercially manufactured paint became available, it was
the easiest color to make at home, using oxides found in local soil.) Older local dairy barns
are no longer used for milking, as present regulations require a
concrete, sanitary-certified barn. The handsome 90-foot, two-story
barn on Al Poncia's Tomales ranch, built about 100 years ago, has
undergone several transformations, from milking barn to calving
facility. "Now we use it pretty much just for storage,"
Al says. On the Poncia dairy, milking is now done in an efficient
little facility originally built in 1947. One outstanding
example is the big restored dairy barn at Pierce Point Ranch in
Point Reyes National Seashore. Other fine examples are found on
the Robert Giacomini and Neil McIsaac ranches. Many other barns
have disappeared, victims of weather, neglect or, most often, progress.
But drivers on back roads can locate some still-standing clippers.
Looking at a well-designed barn is like looking at the Coliseum
or the Eiffel Tower: the pleasing sight of form in love with function,
of the visual poetry-barn-line against hill-curve, white above green
-of contrast. A
Conservation Easement Primer What is an Agricultural
Conservation Easement? Conservation easements have become the tool of
choice for land preservation efforts across the country and remain
the cornerstone of our program, but many people remain unclear about
what they are and how they work. A conservation easement is a legal
agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency
limiting future uses of a property in order to preserve certain
attributes. The easement defines the features it wants to protect
and prohibits uses and activities that would harm or destroy them.
In MALT's case, these are the land's agricultural character, use,
and utility. Our easements prohibit subdivision and non-agricultural
commercial and residential development, but permit structures and
improvements that are related to agricultural use. The easements
are recorded, and future owners are bound by its terms in perpetuity.
The land remains privately owned and on the tax rolls. The program is compensatory, that is, MALT typically
pays for the easement. The value is the amount by which the easement
reduces the monetary worth of the land, typically equaling about
40% of the market value. Agricultural families have many reasons
for selling agricultural easements. Proceeds have assisted families
in purchasing land, retiring debt, buying out co-owners, and funding
retirement. In exchange, landowners ensure the agricultural potential
of their property for future generations, and contribute to the
critical mass of land necessary for agriculture's continued viability
in the area. "But in spite of MALT's success," cautions Executive Director Bob Berner, "the future of agriculture in Marin is not certain. Escalating land values and luxury home development threaten farmland uses. The ability to offer ranching families the option of selling a conservation easement continues to be vital in our efforts to preserve our 150-year-old farming and ranching tradition." For further information, contact Bob at 415-663-1158, ext. 1, or Susan Kester, Easement Program Coordinator, at 415-663-1158, ext. 3. What Happens After
an Easement is Conveyed to MALT? Identifying the agricultural values and character
on a property is the first step toward ensuring their protection.
Monitoring begins with the preparation of a Baseline Documentation
Report describing conditions and features of the property at the
time of acquisition of an easement, and providing a basis for comparison
with future conditions. Information is gathered through discussions
with landowners and operators, field tours, and reference materials.
The report is prepared by MALT and signed by the landowner and MALT,
usually prior to close of escrow, when both are satisfied with its
accuracy. Each property is visited annually thereafter.
A typical visit is conducted by our Easement Stewardship Coordinator
and takes two-six hours, depending on size and complexity. Observations
on the condition and uses of the property and significant changes
in the protected values are noted. Activities specifically disallowed
by the easement, such as unauthorized construction of facilities
or roads, non-agricultural commercial activity, or waste dumping
are recorded. Agricultural values on livestock ranches, as protected
by the easement, are largely defined by soil and pasture and, to
some degree, water quality and condition. Factors commonly evaluated
include evidence of erosion and loss of topsoil, amount of residual
dry vegetation left on the ground at the end of the summer, presence
and extent of weed infestations, and activities likely to degrade
water quality such as animal concentrations in drainage beds and
manure stockpiled next to creeks. MALT also offers assistance to landowners who
want help with conservation projects. Besides linking them with
public agency resources, the organization has provided funding,
technical and grantwriting assistance, and coordination for erosion
repair, weed control, and riparian restoration. Food
For Thought Think about the first time a child grows and picks
strawberries out of his own school garden. He bites into its sweet
juicy flesh and learns that Marin farmers care for the land and
offer a harvest of luscious strawberries on local store shelves
and at farmers' markets. These are examples of the experiences Marin Agricultural
Land Trust (MALT), the Marin Food Systems Project (MFSP), and Marin
Agricultural Education Alliance (MAEA) members have been working
on fostering-and not only for school children but also for adults.
Through agricultural and food?focused education, people of all ages
not only learn to appreciate the farms in their community, but have
the opportunity to understand the complex web of ecological, social
and economic relationships that bring the food they eat from farm
to table. MALT was a founding member of the Marin Agricultural
Education Alliance formed in 1998 to create the first Marin Summer
Agricultural Institute for teachers. This June 24-26, the Institute
will tutor a new cadre of teachers in how to integrate agricultural
education into their classrooms. (see box for complete details)
To date, 70 educators have completed the training. Follow-up workshops
and help in the classroom is provided by MAEA and MALT volunteers. On February 25, 2002, an agricultrue and education
forum brought together 42 Marin teachers, ranchers, farmers, foundation
and national park staff, agricultural literacy coordinators, and
nonprofit representatives at Walker Creek Ranch. They were invited
by MALT's Education Director Constance Washburn and Ellie Rilla
from the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) to
spend the day creating a shared vision for agriculture and education
in the county and to develop projects and ideas that would help
make that vision a reality. Participants also had the opportunity
to learn about all the current work going on in this area and to
find collaborative partners for future projects. The day was generously
underwritten with County funds from Supervisor Steve Kinsey's office. The Marin Food Systems Project, of which MALT
is an active contributing member, seeks to link farms and schools
in numerous ways: through agricultural, garden?based and food?focused
curricula; and by assisting schools in integrating local foods into
their food service programs. The project is a collaborative effort
including county nurses, teachers, food service providers, the Farmers
Market and Master Gardeners and a number of non-profit partners. MALT will continue to be actively involved in
educating the public about the importance of Marin agriculture.
"We will only truly secure the future of our family farms by
developing a voting population well-educated in the importance of
a local food supply and willing to support it by purchasing Marin
County farm products," notes Constance Washburn. Marin
Summer Agricultural Institute How
to Win an American Quilt One of those quiltmakers is Pauling
Henderson of Fairfax whose quilted wall hanging and bed-sized quilts
have been widely exhibited. Now MALT members and friends will have
a chance to take home a beautiful, king-sized, all-cotton quilt
and two matching pillow shams handmade by Pauline in the traditional
nine-patch pattern. She has generously donated the many hours it
took to design and sew the quilt, and all money raised from sales
of quilt raffle tickets will be contributed to MALT's easement program. Stop by our Point Reyes Station office
or look for the quilt at upcoming MALT events where our volunteers
will be happy to sell you a raffle ticket. The lucky winner will
be announced this fall at our annual Harvest Day event at Nicasio
Valley Farms. Ranches
& Rolling Hills That morning
they'd driven to a ranch just north of Point Reyes Station and,
with the permission of the owner, had hiked up behind the dairy
barn and arranged their easels. The view of emerald hills spilling
down to Tomales Bay captivated them, and they began to paint. But
what soon caught their attention, and the thing that made them late
was the sight of a new calf with its mother and a second cow about
to give birth. It's magical moments like these that inspire a plein
air painter to brave the wind, the drizzle, or the heat of the day
to capture a fleeting view on canvas for Ranches & Rolling Hills. Did the Abbotts
get to see the birth of a calf? Did they paint what they saw? Please
join us from 2-5 P.M. on Saturday, May 18, or 11 A.M.-5 P.M. on
Sunday, May 19, and find out for yourself. We can practically guarantee
you won't be disappointed. In conjunction
with Ranches & Rolling Hills, the William Lester Gallery in
Point Reyes Station is mounting a special month-long exhibit of
rural landscapes to celebrate and preserve West Marin. "Preservation
of the land is essential to nurture our souls and spirits,"
says owner Robin Fahey Cameron. Ten percent of gallery sales will
go to MALT. Our
Hikes & Tours Dilemma Feedback from last fall's MALT member
survey let us know that some of you are getting frustrated. Despite
your best efforts to sign up early, the tours quickly sell out.
We thought you'd like to know why this happens. Tours have been kept small so voices
can be heard out of doors and to reduce impact on a ranch or farm.
And because our ranch hosts take time out of their busy work days
to lead the tours, most can only participate on a very occasional
basis. "Imagine you were having strangers coming to visit your
house," one rancher told us. "You'd make an effort to
clean house wouldn't you? Well, that's how we feel when people visit
the ranch, and there is a whole lot more to clean up." In the coming seasons, we will be rethinking the Hikes & Tours program and hopefully coming up with solutions to the fortunate problem of extreme popularity. In the meantime, we have increased the number of tours offered this summer and hope that more of you will have an opportunity to experience Marin's farms and ranches in this special way. Those of you with internet access can check the MALT web site , www.malt.org, for tour status before registering. All registrations are processed by mail on a first come, first served basis. Summer
Hikes & Tours
|
An
Appreciation of Marin Barns
Imagine
what it's like for a student to visit a Marin dairy farm for the
first time and realize that the milk she drinks at home is produced
by one of these large black and white Holstein cows.
The
Marin Agricultural Education Alliance announces its 4th annual Marin
Summer Agricultural Institute designed to educate teachers and classroom
volunteers about farming in Marin. The first two days include ranch
tours and talks with local experts on Marin's lively and historic
agricultural industry and a panel discussion of the future of agriculture
in Marin County. Day three takes place at Walker Creek Ranch in
Marshall where a hands-on curriculum workshop will focus on creating
and using a school garden as part of an educational plan. Teachers,
parents, MALT volunteers, and others interested in working in the
classroom are encouraged to attend. The $55 fee includes curriculum
and resource materials. A stipend is available to Marin teachers.
College credit is available through Dominican University. The institute
is sponsored by the Marin Community Foundation, Autodesk, and Fair
Isaac Fund. Pre-registration required. Call Margaret Beyer, 415-499-5877,
for further information.
By
using odds and ends of old clothing and swapping scraps with their
neighbors, thrifty American farm wives created colorful quilts that
reflected artistic sensibilities while serving the utilitarian purpose
of keeping their families warm. Some of these homespun coverlets
survived the daily use they were put to and have come to be recognized
as works of virtuosity, inspiring new generations of quiltmakers
from all walks of life.