Summer Newsletter, MALT - 2023

Duncan Ranch Another Piece of the Puzzle Protected

Ancient oak, bay laurel, and buckeye trees decorate the expansive grasslands of the 539-acre Duncan Ranch east of Tomales. Each bend and twist in this gentle landscape provides a unique microclimate for native plants and the wild and domestic life they sustain. It is a rugged western ranch that looks and feels much as it has for decades.

In March of this year we protected this ranch with an agricultural conservation easement, ensuring the landscape is protected from development and that it remains in agricultural production in perpetuity. Our success in safeguarding this ranch would not have been possible without the support and commitment of our generous donors. The future of this working landscape is secured thanks to your continued belief in MALT’s mission.

Protecting this ranch builds upon a block of more than 10,000 acres of contiguous MALT-protected land, stretching from the Marin-Sonoma county border to the mouth of Tomales Bay. Large areas of connected habitat like these are vital for the preservation of local biodiversity as they provide the habitat both flora and fauna need to move, colonize, and find what they need to survive — it’s the room to roam.

Bolstering our landscape’s health and connectivity is increasingly important as the climate continues to change and life is forced to move, migrate, and adapt to new conditions. With each acre we protect, we help secure another key piece of the puzzle in Marin’s growing network of protected lands. There has never been a more important time for MALT’s land preservation and stewardship efforts to thrive. (Cont. on pg. 7)

A Letter from Lily

Dear Friends,

Since joining Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) this past August, I've had the good fortune to talk with our staff and board of directors, local ranchers and farmers, partners, and community members to learn about the incredible history of MALT and dig deeper into our shared aspirations.

Out of this learning and reflection, we've developed a strategic framework to guide MALT over the next few years — in a way that honors our past, digs deeper into our successful core work, and focuses on the pressing needs identified by our community.

I want to share these strategic pillars (opposing page) so you can be inspired by our vision and continue to partner with us in protecting our landscape and strengthening our community. Because, as you know, we cannot do this without you by our side.

Over the next year, we will further share with you how our work is reflected and strengthened through these strategic pillars, through stories on the ground, successes, and lessons learned.

Thank you again for being part of MALT and sharing our vision.

Sincerely,

Lily Verdone, Executive Director

Our New Strategic Pillars

Preserve Agriculture

Conserve the most important farmland to support a thriving, economically viable agricultural community in Marin.

Protect Biodiversity

Protect, restore, and improve agricultural lands to benefit wildlife habitat, landscape connectivity, soil health, and water quality.

Build Climate Resilience

Incentivize and accelerate climate smart agricultural practices and nature-based solutions that deliver climate resilience.

Connect Our Community

Inspire and build a constituency to increase awareness of the public benefit of protecting agricultural land.

Strengthen the Organization

Invest in the people, technology, and processes that support the foundation of our organization.

Discover more: malt.org/strategic-pillars

The Evolution of Our Small Grants Program

This past April marked the two-year anniversary of our first community responsive small grants program — the Drought Resilience and Water Security (DRAWS) initiative — and we are proud of its success and how it informs our work ahead.

While the DRAWS initiative itself has been highly impactful, what is equally important is that it has provided us a roadmap for making even more change: launching new community-responsive small grants programs that meet urgent needs and align with our five strategic pillars.

The DRAWS initiative was born out of a critical community need: the ongoing severe drought and its impact on ranchers and farmers in Marin. Over two years, we committed more than $916,000 in small grants to 75 water infrastructure projects that developed water sources, expanded water storage, increased water distribution, and built long-term resilience against the impacts of climate change.

With the experience in hand from rapidly launching and successfully implementing the DRAWS initiative as a pilot

These programs will:

• Respond to community needs

• Align with our strategic pillars of preserving agriculture, protecting biodiversity, building climate resilience, and connecting community

• Achieve measurable, targeted impacts

• Complement our land protection work

small grants program, we are now poised to launch a series of small grants programs over the next several years.

We thank you so much for your role in making the DRAWS initiative a success, and invite you to join us on the journey as we develop more community-responsive small grants programs here in Marin County.

Learn more about our DRAWS initiative: malt.org/draws

Adrian Flores, a local contractor, puts the finishing touches on a new well at the MALT-protected Volpi Ranch.

A Spotlight on Our Community

When our organization was founded in 1980, few believed it would go on to protect more than half of the privately held agricultural land within Marin County. Much of this success can be attributed to our community’s shared vision and the key individuals who stepped up to make that dream a reality.

This spring, we honored two of these visionary leaders, Bob Berner and Ralph Grossi, with emeritus positions. We’re deeply grateful for their years of steadfast leadership and unwavering commitment to the success of our mission. We look forward to their continued guidance and support in these new capacities.

Bob Berner, Executive Director Emeritus

As MALT’s first executive director, Bob helped translate our founders’ vision of a farmland trust, for which there was no precedent, into a national model. Bob retired in 2012 after 28 years of dutiful service, leaving a legacy of 68 family farms and ranches and more than 40,000 acres of Marin County’s agricultural landscape protected forever.

Ralph Grossi, Board Emeritus

A third-generation Marin County rancher and one of the nation’s most prominent advocates of farmland preservation, Ralph has been instrumental in conservation efforts both locally and nationwide. As the first chair of MALT’s board of directors and later as the president of the American Farmland Trust, Ralph brings invaluable expertise in the complexities of both local farmland conservation as well as public policy.

Duncan Ranch (Continued)

Funding for the $2.7 million easement on the Duncan Ranch came from two sources: half from private donations to MALT and half granted from Marin County’s Farmland Preservation Program, funded by Measure A, a quarter-cent sales tax devoted to preserving the county’s parks, open spaces, and agricultural land.

Our protection of the Duncan Ranch would not be possible without the ability to match our private donations with this public funding. Since its passage in 2012, Measure A has allowed Marin County to invest $16.4 million in farmland preservation, enabling MALT to protect 13 farms and ranches totaling 7,953 acres through the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements. And our team is thrilled to have eight more land protection projects in the works totaling more than 5,200 acres.

Safeguarding critical biodiversity, a regional food economy, and the iconic backdrop for millions of Bay Area residents is possible because of you. We’re tremendously grateful for your dedication and continued support. Please stay tuned for more good news about our land protection work in the coming months.

Did You Know?

Landscape Connectivity Is Essential for Climate Resilience

From acorn woodpeckers, bobcats, California tiger salamander and more, each species plays a unique role in sustaining our local ecosystem. It’s easy to play favorites, but each plant and animal contributes in their unique way — a synergy of disparate players exchanging nutrients, genes, and energy between different parts of the landscape.

Landscape connectivity refers to the extent to which natural areas are connected across a landscape, enabling the movement of plants and animals. We often measure the success of our conservation efforts on our ability to preserve this connectivity. It’s about the preservation of earth’s pathways for life.

As our climate continues to change, maintaining and enhancing our landscape’s connectivity will become increasingly important as species are forced to migrate to find suitable climates, food sources, or mates. To bolster the resilience of our local ecosystems, it’s time to double down on local land conservation.

Point Reyes Station California 94956

Give. Protect. Repeat.

Monthly giving to MALT is an easy and affordable way to protect and steward the land you love.

Become a monthly donor today at malt.org/donate or call (415) 663-1158 .

Marin Agricultural Land Trust is a donor-supported, nonprofit organization created in 1980 to protect Marin County farmland. Some of the Bay Area’s most highly acclaimed meats, dairy products and organic crops are produced on farmland protected by MALT's 93 agricultural conservation easements, totaling more than 55,700 acres.

To learn about Marin’s working farms and ranches and the food they produce, visit malt.org

MALT news is published quarterly by Marin Agricultural Land Trust, a nonprofit tax-exempt organization.

Editor: Matt Dolkas

Graphic Design: shirleycreative.com

Printer: ThirdBay Letterpress Inc.

Photos: Lynn Bagley, Matt Dolkas and Paige Green.

Printed on recycled paper using soy based inks.