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PAUMA VALLEY – The
Tierra Miguel Foundation and the
Fallbrook Land Conservancy, with state
and federal funding totaling $1.9
million, are creating a
first-of-its-kind agricultural
conservation easement in northern San
Diego County.
“We’re very happy to
be able to permanently preserve this
beautiful Pauma Valley land for
agriculture,” said Charlene Orszag,
president of the not-for-profit Tierra
Miguel Foundation. “This project is a
great example of how local organizations
can work with the state and federal
government to make a difference.”
The Tierra Miguel
Foundation (TMF) farm is an educational
demonstration farm that offers a
hands-on opportunity for youngsters and
other interested parties to learn about
sustainable organic agriculture. The
farm supplies boxes of farm produce for
classroom learning programs and
distributes its seasonal products to 300
Community Supported Agriculture
participants in Los Angeles, Orange,
Riverside and San Diego counties.
Community Supported
Agriculture is a way the public can
directly support a small, local farm
while getting a weekly supply of fresh
products. TMF also offers numerous
educational outreach and research
programs to promote sustainable
agriculture.
The 85-acre farm has
prime soils, a reliable water source,
and is located in an agricultural area
that is faced with increasing
development pressure from the high
demand for residential estate homes in
the Pauma Valley. Under the terms of the
easement, no non-agricultural
development may take place on the farm,
which currently is owned by Pauma Valley
Ranch, LLC.
This is the first
grant project funded by both the state
and federal programs in the state south
of Santa Barbara County.
Through the
California Farmland Conservancy program,
the Department of Conservation will
temporarily grant $1.4 million to TMF to
purchase title to the property and
approximately $240,000 to place a
conservation easement on the farm, which
the Foundation leases. TMF will seek
donations and grants to help raise the
$1.4 million to repay the state, and
will continue to own and manage the
agricultural operations.
“Agriculture probably
isn’t the first thing people think of
when San Diego County is mentioned, but
it’s one of the most productive counties
in the state,” DOC Director Darryl Young
noted. “We hope this project encourages
more efforts to protect the county’s
farmland.”
The USDA, through the
Natural Resources Conservation Service’s
Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program,
has agreed to fund approximately
$240,000 towards the purchase of the
agricultural conservation easement.
“As California’s
population grows by nearly 15 million
over the next 20 years, preserving
farmland will become a major challenge,”
said NRCS State Conservationist Chuck
Bell. “Farmland is a vital and
irreplaceable natural resource.”
California's
agricultural production totaled more
than $29.8 billion in 2001; San Diego
County’s production was nearly $1.3
billion, eighth among the state’s 58
counties. But thousands of acres of
farmland are being developed each year.
“The Fallbrook Land
Conservancy and the Tierra Miguel
Foundation are committed to the
preservation of these important working
lands in San Diego County,” said
Conservancy Chairman Wallace Tucker.
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. CFCP
funds remain for new grant proposals.
Landowners and trusts are encouraged to
contact the Department of
Conservation/Division of Land Resource
Protection for information on the
program and potential grant funding. The
division's Web address is
www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp.
DOC also offers
programs – the Williamson Act and
Farmland Security Zones -- that provide
financial incentives to keep land in
agricultural use for periods of 10 and
20 years.
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.
LOCAL CONTACT: Charlene Orszag,
President, Tierra Miguel Foundation,
(760) 742-1151.
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