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SALINAS – Christian
M. Hansen came to California from
Denmark in 1865 and established a farm
in Alameda County. Frequent flooding
prompted him in 1868 to relocate to the
Salinas Valley, where he found a climate
and soil conditions that combine to
create some of the world’s most
productive farmland.
Today, much of that
farmland is being developed to house a
growing population. Part of the farm
that Hansen established, now known as
the Dayton Ranch, still grows lettuce,
strawberries and broccoli. But the view
has changed. Once there was agriculture
as far as the eye could see. Now, the
Salinas city limits are just an eighth
of a mile away.
However, Tina Hansen
McEnroe has ensured that her
great-grandfather’s land will never
become a subdivision. She sold a
permanent agricultural conservation
easement on the property to the Monterey
County Agricultural and Historical Land
Conservancy. While McEnroe’s family will
continue to own the land, the
development rights are permanently
extinguished. McEnroe couldn’t be
happier.
“I value this land
tremendously, which is why I wanted an
easement on it,” McEnroe said. “I wanted
to be a good steward, to promote and
safeguard the long-term viability of
this farm, because it’s excellent soil,
very fertile.”
The Monterey County
Agricultural and Historical Land
Conservancy obtained grant money from
the Department of Conservation’s
California Farmland Conservancy Program
and USDA/Natural Resources Conservation
Service’s Farm and Ranchlands Protection
Program to complete the transaction.
“This is some of the
most productive farmland in the world,
and the pressure to develop it was
evident,” said Governor Davis. “I am
pleased we are ensuring this land will
remain in agricultural use and protect
and preserve our environment.”
There is one 400-acre
parcel between the Dayton Ranch and
Salinas, and houses are being built on
200 acres of that property. Due to the
local weather patterns, Dayton Ranch is
located in one of the few areas of the
country that is suitable for lettuce and
other vegetable production during the
summer months.
“As California’s
population grows by nearly 15 million
over the next 20 years, preserving
farmland will become a major challenge,”
said Governor Davis. “The California
Farmland Conservancy Program helps keep
California farm and ranchland in
agriculture for future generations of
families.”
NRCS State
Conservationist Chuck Bell noted:
“Programs like the Farm and Ranchlands
Protection Program find equilibrium
between preserving agricultural lands
and the demands of population growth.
FRPP keeps California farm and ranchland
in agriculture for future generations of
families like the McEnroes.”
The Monterey County
Agricultural and Historical Land
Conservancy, founded in 1984, has
completed 35 projects that protect
nearly 12,000 acres of agricultural
properties in cooperation with state,
county and federal programs, private
foundations, and the American Farmland
Trust.
The Conservancy’s
35th project, also completed with a
grant from the Department of
Conservation as well as funding from the
Packard Foundation, permanently protects
the 620-acre Tan Oak Canyon Ranch.
Located about 10 miles away from the
Dayton Ranch near the unincorporated
community of Chualar, the Tan Oak Canyon
Ranch grows lettuce, celery, broccoli
and cauliflower.
“We’re fortunate that
the landowners wanted to see these
properties stay in farming, because both
Dayton Ranch and the Tan Oak Canyon
Ranch are tremendous pieces of
farmland,” said MCAHLC spokesman
Sherwood Darington. “While we recognize
that development will continue to occur
in the Salinas Valley, our goal is to
keep prime farmland in agricultural use
as much as possible.”
McEnroe doesn’t farm
on Dayton Ranch herself, but visits the
area where she grew up several times a
year. She and her husband, Paul, reside
on their cattle ranch in Santa Barbara
County, where Tina teaches in the public
school system.
She integrates
agriculture into her curriculum. In
fact, she recently won the state’s 2003
Teacher of Excellence Award for a
Special Project from the California
Foundation for Agriculture in the
Classroom.
“I regard the
easement as a very important legacy for
my own three children,” she said. “I
have tried to instill in them, and in my
students, a love of agriculture and the
land.”
California's
agricultural production totaled more
than $29.8 billion in 2001; Monterey
County's total was $2.85 billion,
surpassed in the state only by Fresno
and Tulare counties. But California's
population of about 35 million is
expected to grow to nearly 50 million by
2025, and many acres of farmland are
being developed to accommodate that
growth.
“While it’s important
to accommodate our growing population,
we must remember that farmland is a
vital and irreplaceable natural
resource,” Department of Conservation
Director Darryl Young said.
The California
Farmland Conservancy Program,
administered by DOC’s Division of Land
Resource Protection, is designed to
ensure that the state's most valuable
farmland will not be developed. Through
the program, local governments and
non-profit organizations can receive
grants to purchase development rights
from willing landowners, thus creating
permanent conservation easements.
The CFCP has issued
11 grants totaling more than $8 million
in Monterey County to preserve nearly
4,000 acres of farmland. An additional
$4.3 million has been committed to four
more projects in the Salinas Valley.
CFCP funds remain for new grant
proposals. Landowners and trusts are
encouraged to visit the
Division of Land
Resource Protection
for details.
The NRCS Farm and
Ranchland Protection Program provides
matching funds to help purchase
development rights to keep productive
farm and ranchland in agricultural uses.
Working through existing programs, NRCS
partners with state, tribal, or local
governments and non-governmental
organizations to acquire conservation
easements or other interests in land
from landowners. NRCS provides up to 50
percent of the fair market easement
value. NRCS has provided $3.25 million
cumulatively for Monterey County
projects and has just committed $600,000
of additional funding.
LOCAL CONTACT:
Sherwood Darington, 831-422-5868.
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