Saving More Special Places 2007-2008

Five new Land Trust conservation projects will conserve 11,000 acres in Santa Barbara County, dedicating some of our most beautiful ranch and farm land permanently to natural and agricultural use. Conservation agreements with private landowners will protect high priority wildlife corridors, watersheds and scenic resources on private ranches and farms, including regionally rare Blue and Valley oak woodland, with creeks and ponds that sustain rare and endangered plants and animals.

Under conservation easements granted in perpetuity to the Land Trust, present and future owners are bound to guard the scenic beauty, wildlife resources and agricultural value of the Gaviota Coast, Figueroa Mountain, Carpinteria foothills and historic ranch land in the Los Alamos Valley.

The Land Trust will build new partnerships with landowners, with local, state and national conservation groups, and with public and private grant agencies that provide grants and tax incentives for voluntary land conservation. Each of these conservation projects requires the Land Trust and its partners to raise public grants and private donations to purchase the proposed conservation easements.

In some cases, the landowners will make a partial donation of their easement, in exchange for federal and state charitable tax deductions.

The Land Trust faces an unprecedented challenge in pursuing several large conservation projects at once, a challenge that can result in doubling the amount of private land protected by conservation easement in Santa Barbara County.

Acquisition agreements for these projects are signed or pending final real estate appraisals. Beginning in Fall 2007, the Land Trust board and staff must commit to raising several million dollars in grants to purchase these easements, primarily from state, federal and local conservation agencies. We also must raise money for project management, legal assistance and direct transaction costs (appraisals, biological evaluations, mapping, title insurance, escrow fees, travel) that are not covered by government grants.