Santa Barbara AFA Supports Hibbits Ranch Conservation Easement
February 2010—The members of the Santa Barbara Ag Futures Alliances agreed by consensus to send letters of support the US Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Conservation in support support for the Hibbits Ranch conservation project and the grant application of Land Trust of Santa Barbara for the project.
The full text of the Alliance letter is below:
February 2, 2010
Charles Tyson
California Department of Conservation
Division of Land Resource Protection
801 K Street, MS 18-01
Sacramento, California 95814
RE: LTSBC grant application for Hibbits Ranch conservation easement
Dear Mr Tyson,
At the request of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, we are submitting this letter of support for the Hibbits Ranch conservation project and grant application to the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program.
We believe that an agricultural conservation easement on the Hibbits Ranch will benefit the community in a variety of ways; keeping land with highly productive soils viable for agriculture; maintaining a farming history of the property which began in 1897; preserving the rural landscape that is the gateway to Lompoc and the scenic backdrop to Mission La Purisima State Historic Park; and potentially initiating discussions with neighboring farm owners who may be interested in protecting their land.
The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County has been serving our county for over twenty years and they are committed to protecting our natural lands and agricultural heritage. We hope you will see fit to approve their grant application and further their work to protect the Hibbits Ranch.
Sincerely,
The Members of the Santa Barbara County Ag Futures Alliance
February 2010 Information Share
Each month the Alliance members conduct an ‘information share’, exchanging news and events of interest to members and the community. At the February meeting members shared these:
- The Goleta Valley Planning Advisory Committee is holding a public meeting at 9:00A February 27 to introduce the “Conceptual Plan” for the area. http://longrange.sbcountyplanning.org/planareas/goleta/gvpac.php
- The December 9, 2009 talk given by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in Santa Barbara on re-localization is available as a series of You Tube videos:
5 Reasons why Ag Matters in Santa Barbara County
As part of the formation process for the Santa Barbara County Ag Futures Alliance, members were asked to list five reasons why agriculture matters in Santa Barbara County. Jim Poett, 5th-generation Santa Barbara cattle rancher wrote this eloquent appeal for the long-term value of ag to the County
Why Ag Matters, Jim Poett, Santa Barbara County AFA member
- NO DEAD END JOBS: I would prefer that my kids do not end up in a dead end jobs. I did not encourage them to go into ag but I did not discourage them. Both of them in different ways, however, are making life decisions that are moving them in that direction. And both of them are more interested in ranching then sod busting. Ag matters because there are people who want to do it.
- MATRIX B: I participated for almost three years in the Gaviota Study Group. The idea was to find common ground on the future of the Gaviota Coast between environmentalist and landowners. For me one of the more enlightening moments grew out of a diagram Mike McGinnis, (Bren School) brought to a meeting. The diagram was labeled “Matrix A”. It showed a “core reserve” drawn as a circle connected to another core reserve by a corridor so that at its heart the diagram, looked like a dumbbell. This “Core Reserve” and “Corridor” was surrounded by two buffer zones called inner and outer. The whole diagram looked like three concentric dog bones. This was an environmental paradigm and a strategy for looking at environmental conservation. I drew what I labeled “Matrix B” as an alternative. I erased “Core Reserve” at the center of the dumbbells and replaced in with “Urban Areas. Ag matters in SB because it is a more holistic way of environmental conservation. Read More »
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