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LOCAL CONTACTS:
City of Davis, Mitch Sears (530)
757-5626; Solano Land Trust, Wendy Low,
(707) 432-0150 ext. 208
SACRAMENTO -- The
establishment of a greenbelt between
Dixon and Davis took another step
forward today with the completion of a
farmland preservation project along
Interstate 80. Nearly $2 million in
state and local funding will help the
City of Davis, City of Dixon and the
Solano Land Trust purchase an
agricultural conservation easement on
the 146-acre Ebey-Laughtin property
north of the freeway just off the
Kidwell Road exit in Solano County. A
local farming family purchased the
easement-protected property and intends
to expand the agricultural operations.
“Permanently
shielding this farmland from development
is a critical part of establishing an
agricultural buffer, something the
people in these communities desire,”
said Secretary for Resources Mike
Chrisman, a fourth-generation rancher.
“Moreover, it’s another step in the
state’s effort to protect some of the
most productive farmland in the world
from being paved over.”
The California
Department of Conservation (DOC)
provided $971,500 through the California
Farmland Conservancy Program to ensure
the project’s completion. The City of
Davis contributed $810,000, the Solano
Land Trust $115,000, and the City of
Dixon $20,000 toward the purchase. In
addition, the sellers contributed
$75,000 of the appraised easement value
through a bargain sale.
The ability to
leverage state grants with local funding
sources such as the Davis Agricultural
Mitigation Fund make this type of
farmland preservation project possible.
Such significant financial contributions
demonstrate the strong commitment to the
project by all the funding partners. The
cities and land trust recognize that
without local funding readily at hand to
match state grants, opportunities to
achieve a shared vision of protected
farmland and distinct communities in the
I-80 corridor will be lost.
"This farmland
conservation project once again
demonstrates the value of cooperation
and thoughtful planning,” said Ruth
AsmundsonSue Greenwald, Mayor of the
City of Davis. “The City of Davis is
proud to have worked with Virginia Ebey
and Jean Laughtin to ensure their
family's legacy and is excited to see
the new owners' innovative vision for
the farm unfold in the coming years."
Last December, the
DOC, Davis, Dixon, and the Solano Land
Trust were part of a group that
purchased a permanent easement on the
adjacent 300-acre McConeghy Farm, which
straddles the Kidwell Road exit on
Interstate 80. As part of the project,
the McConeghy and Ebey-Laughtin
properties were combined for resale to a
farming interest. Members of the
Leatherby family purchased the portion
of the
McConeghy Farm south
of I-80. Rich and Shelly Collins
purchased the northern portion of the
McConeghy Farm and the Ebey-Laughtin
farm.
The Leatherby family
intends to grow a variety of nut crops
for use in their family ice-cream
business. Rich Collins is the president
of California Vegetable Specialties, the
only commercial producer of endive in
the United States. Collins is working
with a number of other local farmers to
create a commercial farming venture that
demonstrates sustainable farming
practices and directly markets produce
and locally-processed farm products to
the public.
“We’re so excited to
have the opportunity that lies before
us,” Collins said. “I’ve had my eye on
this property for well over 10 years and
actually met with Mr. and Mrs. McConeghy
in 1996. As new owners we intend to
honor the property’s agricultural past
while enhancing and maximizing its
productive future all the while
respecting the value of this wonderful
open space.”
The
California Farmland Conservancy Program
(CFCP), administered by DOC’s Division
of Land Resource Protection, is designed
to ensure that the state's most valuable
farmland will not be developed. Local
governments and non-profit organizations
can apply for CFCP funds to purchase
development rights from willing
landowners, thus creating permanent
conservation easements.
Although California
leads the nation in agricultural
production, farmland is being converted
rapidly for development and other uses.
Nearly 54,000 acres of irrigated
farmland were taken out of production in
the state from 2000 to 2002.
“Each year, a
good-sized chunk of California’s
farmland is developed,” DOC Director
Bridgett Luther said. “While we
recognize the inevitability of growth,
there’s a finite amount of fertile land,
so it’s important to preserve as much of
it as we can.”
Since it began
in1996, the CFCP has provided $47
million in grant funding to permanently
shield 33,000 acres of the state’s best
and most vulnerable agricultural land
from development. An additional $8.3
million of Proposition 40 bond funds are
targeted for farmland conversion in the
upcoming fiscal year.
DOC also offers other
land resource protection programs
through the Williamson Act and Farmland
Security Zones that provide financial
incentives to keep land in agricultural
use for periods of 10 and 20 years.
Solano Land Trust (SLT)
was founded in 1986 as a pioneering
collaboration between farmers,
environmentalists, developers, and local
government to preserve the agricultural
legacy and natural landscapes of Solano
County. SLT's mission is to permanently
preserve and protect farmlands, open
space, wetlands, and wildlife habitat
through land acquisition, conservation
easements, education, and land
management. SLT owns 10 properties
comprising 10,500 acres and holds
easements on 14 properties comprising
over 5,800 acres.
“We’re very pleased
to have been a partner helping to ensure
that this historic farmland, on prime
soils, is permanently preserved,” said
Marilyn Farley, Executive Director of
the Solano Land Trust. “The new
landowner has marvelous plans for an
innovative agricultural enterprise that
we hope will be a model for agriculture
near rapidly urbanizing areas in the
future.”
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