Marin County

Measure A Keeps Preserving Farms and Ranches

Published

5 years ago

June 13, 2019

County awards grant to Marin Agricultural Land Trust to preserve ranchland

Marin County Parks understands the value of farming and ranching to the local economy and to Marin’s history. Over the past five years, Parks has awarded 12 grants to help purchase agricultural conservation easements to preserve over 7,000 acres of working farms and ranches through its Farmland Preservation Grant Program.

Now, Parks is doing it again to preserve the 758-acre Ielmorini Back Ranch in the hills between Nicasio and Novato.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors on June 4 approved a grant agreement between the County and the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) worth $1,516,000, which will be matched with private funds to purchase the easement over Ielmorini Back Ranch. The County’s funding contribution comes from the Farmland Preservation Grant Program, the result of a quarter-cent sales tax on purchases made in Marin known as Measure A.

In support of its mission to permanently protect Marin’s agricultural land for agricultural use, MALT purchases easements over working farms and ranches to preserve them as undeveloped open spaces and ensure that economically viable agriculture persists in perpetuity.

The easement deal adds to a large block of MALT-protected ranches that are classified as essential to regional conservation goals created by the Bay Area Open Space Council’s Conservation Lands Network. Upwards of 83 percent of all land in Marin is classified as open space.

Craig Richardson, Parks’ Senior Open Space Planner, said Marin County Parks is leveraging Measure A dollars to not only preserve agricultural land from potential development but to protect essential habitat for several species. The northern spotted owl, the California red-legged frog, the foothill yellow-legged frog, and the western pond turtle are special-status species that would find suitable habitat on the Ielmorini property, located about halfway between Stafford Lake and Nicasio Reservoir just east of Petaluma-Point Reyes Road.

Thanks to MALT’s presence and efforts in the county, the Measure A Farmland Preservation Program has racked up an impressive track record of helping to conserve Marin’s farmland. Since the inception of the grant program in 2014, it helped conserve 12 working farms and ranches with over 17 miles of streams, 1,815 acres of forested habitat, 4,886 acres of grassland/rangeland and 28 acres of wetlands, all in rural West Marin. All the properties have deep family roots in farming and ranching but were close to being sold for nonagricultural use.

The Measure A Farmland Preservation Program is supported by a 2012 quarter-cent sales tax approved by Marin voters and is dedicated to protecting and preserving working farms and ranches at risk of subdivision and development.

An agricultural conservation easement does not convey ownership of a property. Instead, it conveys certain rights to the easement holder and/or obligations to the landowner. In this case the easement ensures that economically viable agriculture at Ielmorini Back Ranch will continue while balancing protection of the natural resources of the property, in perpetuity.

All told, more than $14.1 million of Measure A Farmland Preservation funds have been used to preserve just over 7,000 acres of local agricultural lands since the grant program was initiated in 2014. With the addition of Ielmorini Back Ranch’s 758 acres, MALT has protected a contiguous swath of approximately 14,383 acres, or 22 square miles, and more than 54,000 acres in all throughout West Marin.

A quarter-cent retail transactions and use tax, Measure A not only is intended for farmland preservation but also for care of Marin’s existing parks and open spaces and to support regional community parks projects and programs. Fifteen percent of the tax proceeds are set aside for the acquisition of property rights to protect agriculture, and 5% is devoted to enhancing values on easement-protected lands via grants.

“MALT is proud to partner with the ranch’s owners, Doug and Cathy Ielmorini, and their four children, to support their family dairy operation, protect important habitat and safeguard these productive rangelands for agriculture forever,” said MALT Executive Director Jamison Watts. “We are grateful to Doug and Cathy for their partnership and look forward to the years ahead as we work together to steward these precious resources.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Art

Marin County: A Snapshot of California’s Black History Is on Display

The Marin County Office of Education, located at 1111 Las Gallinas Ave in San Rafael, will host the extraordinary exhibit, “The Legacy of Marin City: A California Black History Story (1942-1960),” from Feb. 1 to May 31, 2024. The interactive, historical, and immersive exhibit featuring memorabilia from Black shipyard workers who migrated from the South to the West Coast to work at the Marinship shipyard will provide an enriching experience for students and school staff. Community organizations will also be invited to tour the exhibit.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

Early photo of Marin City in the exhibit showing the first department store, barber shop, and liquor store. (Photo by Godfrey Lee)

By Post Staff

The interactive, historical, and immersive exhibit featuring memorabilia from Black shipyard workers who migrated from the South to the West Coast to work at the Marinship shipyard will provide an enriching experience for students and school staff. Community organizations will also be invited to tour the exhibit.

All will have the opportunity to visit and be guided by its curator Felecia Gaston.

The exhibit will include photographs, articles and artifacts about the Black experience in Marin City from 1942 to 1960 from the Felecia Gaston Collection, the Anne T. Kent California Room Collection, The Ruth Marion and Pirkle Jones Collection, The Bancroft Library, and the Daniel Ruark Collection.

It also features contemporary original artwork by Chuck D of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Public Enemy, clay sculptures by San Francisco-based artist Kaytea Petro, and art pieces made by Marin City youth in collaboration with Lynn Sondag, Associate Professor of Art at Dominican University of California.

The exhibit explores how Marin City residents endured housing inequities over the years and captures the history of plans to remove Black residents from the area after World War II. Throughout, it embodies the spirit of survival and endurance that emboldened the people who made Marin City home.

Felecia Gaston is the author of the commemorative book, ‘A Brand New Start…This is Home: The Story of World War II Marinship and the Legacy of Marin City.’ Thanks to the generous contribution of benefactors, a set of Felecia’s book will be placed in every public elementary, middle, and high school library in Marin.

In addition, educators and librarians at each school will have the opportunity to engage with Felecia in a review of best practices for utilizing the valuable primary sources within the book.

“Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to learn from these significant and historical contributions to Marin County, California, and the United States,” said John Carroll, Marin County Superintendent of Schools.

“By engaging with Felecia’s book and then visiting the exhibit, students will be able to further connect their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of this significant historical period,” Carroll continued.

Felecia Gaston adds, “The Marin County Office of Education’s decision to bring the Marin City Historical Traveling Exhibit and publication, ‘A Brand New Start…This is Home’ to young students is intentional and plays a substantial role in the educational world. It is imperative that our community knows the contributions of Marin City Black residents to Marin County. Our youth are best placed to lead this transformation.”

The Marin County Office of Education will host an Open House Reception of the exhibit’s debut on Feb. 1 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.. All school staff, educators, librarians, and community members are encouraged to attend to preview the exhibit and connect with Felecia Gaston. To contact Gaston, email MarinCityLegacy@marinschools.org

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

New Marin County HHS Director Brings Breadth of Bay Area Experience

On Feb. 20, Dr. Lisa Warhuus, a psychologist with over 25 years of social services experience, will take over as Marin County’s new Director of Health and Human Services. She replaces Dr. Benita McLaren, who retired in December 2023.

Published

3 months ago

January 23, 2024

Oakland Post

(File Photo) On Feb. 20, Dr. Lisa Warhuus will take over as Marin County’s new Director of Health and Human Services.

By Oakland Press Staff

On Feb. 20, Dr. Lisa Warhuus, a psychologist with over 25 years of social services experience, will take over as Marin County’s new Director of Health and Human Services.

She replaces Dr. Benita McLaren, who retired in December 2023.

“We feel very fortunate to have someone with Dr. Warhuus’ skills and ability join our executive team,” said Marin County Executive Matthew Hymel.

“Throughout her career, Dr. Warhuus has demonstrated an ability to bring stakeholders together to effectively address our most complex community challenges,” Hymel continued.

With the County of Marin, Dr. Warhuus will lead a team of over 800 full-time equivalent staff positions and manage an annual budget of $258 million.

Her annual salary will be $288,433 with benefits consistent with those received by other department heads.

Most recently, Warhuus served as the Director of Health, Housing, and Community Services for the City of Berkeley. In that role, she oversaw a budget of more than $100 million and more than 200 employees across various divisions, including Public Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health, Housing and Community Services, and Aging Services.

“It is a true honor to have been selected for this important position. I cannot wait to get to know the incredible community of Marin County and to collaborate with the dedicated team within the Department of Health and Human Services,” said Warhuus.

Before working for the City of Berkeley, Warhuus served as Director of Children and Youth Initiatives at the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency. Before that, she was an Associate Director. In that role, she “managed and cultivated partnerships that helped expand mental health programs in multiple school districts. She also championed culturally responsive health and wellness services that aimed to support vulnerable populations,” according to a Marin County press release.

For Berkeley, “Warhuus was also a vital member of the Senior Executive Team providing counsel to the City Manager, Mayor, City Council, and the public on matters pertaining to health and housing,” the press release continued. “Notably, she played a key role in initiatives such as the City’s response to COVID-19, contributing to the citywide emergency efforts, and spearheading the development of a 24/7 mobile crisis response for individuals facing mental health and/or substance use crises.”

Warhuus earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from UC Berkeley and master’s and doctoral degrees from Aarhus University in Denmark.