Long-time ranchers, Walter & Arleen Jacobsen, conserve 127-acre ranch SANTA ROSA, CA (December 10, 2019) – Today the Board of Directors for the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (Ag + Open Space) approved up to $2.95 million in public funds to acquire a conservation easement over Jacobsen …
In 2003, Ag + Open Space acquired two properties for $7.6M along a prominent ridgeline on the northeastern side of Healdsburg to create the 153-acre Healdsburg Ridge Open Space Preserve. Since 2008, we’ve redesigned and constructed nearly 3.5 miles of public trails, while working with partners at the City of …
Ag + Open Space is happy to welcome our two new Advisory Committee Youth Members. Austin Maners and Alex Wood joined in September and we’re looking forward to the impact their perspectives will have on our work. Austin Maners is a senior at Analy High School in Sebastopol. Austin has …
Recently, Ag + Open Space’s Allison Schichtel and Karen Gaffney spoke with NASA for their “A Partnership Forged by Fire” story about our vegetation mapping efforts, and how the data are being used today to plan and prepare for the future. Well before the 2017 Sonoma Complex Fires, Ag + …
Several hundred sheep have arrived at our Calabazas Creek Open Space Preserve! Sheep from Sweetgrass Grazing Company will spend the next several weeks grazing about 50 acres of grassland near the Nun’s homestead, an area that was home to early settlers in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The grazing …
We at Ag + Open Space were deeply saddened to hear of Ted Eliot’s passing earlier this month. Ted was an avid conservationist, whose tireless efforts over the last thirty years led to the preservation and protection of some of the most precious natural areas and open spaces throughout the …
Since 1997, Ag + Open Space has owned and stewarded a greenbelt property, Dogbane Preserve in north Santa Rosa between Highway 101 and Old Redwood Highway. Dogbane Preserve is three acres of open space that helps to create a buffer between Santa Rosa and Windsor. Greenbelts preserve the unique character …
Our competitive Matching Grant Program brings open spaces into urban environments by working with public agencies and nonprofits to protect and enhance local agriculture, community recreation, natural resource restoration, and public access within Sonoma County communities. With partial funding from our Matching Grant Program, the City of Sonoma and the …
Duckworth Family Farms, otherwise known as our Nahmens conservation easement, is an 80-acre organic blueberry farm outside of Sebastopol. The easement was originally acquired in 1999, and Duckworth Family Farms bought the property in the early 2000’s. While the property is the perfect location for growing blueberries, the farm also …
Earlier this month, our GIS Coordinator, Allison Schichtel, and Acquisition Assistant, Curtis Kendall, attended the ESRI User Conference in San Diego. The theme of this year’s conference was See What Others Can’t – in essence, a call to action for GIS practitioners to put their skills to good use in …