SPRING 2024 MALT.ORG
$100M Milestone Reached for Agricultural Land Conservation In December of last year, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved $3.3 million in matching grant funds through the Farmland Preservation Program (Measure A). Matching this county funding with state funding as well as private donations, we were able to safeguard the 592-acre Bivista Ridge Ranch (pg. 3) as well as the 1,179-acre Spring Valley Ranch (pg. 4) with agricultural conservation easements.
communities across West Marin. In 2022, the estimated total gross value of the county's annual agricultural production was $94 million, much of which was grown or raised on MALT-protected land.
With this funding secured, MALT and our funding partners have surpassed $100 million invested in land conservation within Marin County. We have now secured 95 conservation easements totaling 57,492 acres of farm and ranchland— the backbone of Marin’s agricultural economy.
The $100 million investment in local land protection has also helped to conserve one of the most biologically diverse corners of the planet. With these two additional ranches protected, we have now conserved 26,305 acres of our region’s critical habitat linkages as defined by the Conservation Lands Network. Protecting and stewarding these pathways for wildlife is essential as the climate changes and the natural resilience of our ecosystems continues to be tested.
This growing network of protected farmland represents more than the food on our tables; these agricultural lands help sustain the local economy and are the lifeblood for
Of course, this historic milestone would not be possible without our partners in conservation. Thank you for all that you do for local farmland preservation. Continued on pg. 6