“Protected Forever” — Creating Ag + Open Space

The late Ted Eliot recalls the intense pressure in the 1980’s to develop land in Sonoma County. Dee Swanhuyser remembers farmers being forced to sell their land in order to sustain themselves. And the late Jim Harberson, a former County Supervisor, remembers thinking, “God isn’t making any more land – so we better protect what we have.”

Having learned how quickly sprawl can overtake natural and working lands, concerned citizens – including Jim, Dee, Ted, and a diverse group of people representing agricultural, business, and environmental groups – placed a measure on the ballot to fund agricultural and open space preservation by means of a quarter-cent sales tax. Hear from them how, and why, they did it.