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... to protect the land forever | May 2020
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A wild and scenic ranch will soon be protected … forever! |
- 3,364 acres of wild and scenic land
- Provides extensive connectivity and habitat for wildlife
- Partnered with Ag + Open Space on its purchase of a conservation easement
- Located in the hills west of Lake Sonoma, this ranch is adjacent to 40,000 acres of protected land, including Baxter Ranch, Cooley Ranch, Lake Sonoma Recreation Area, and SLT’s Rancheria Creek Recesses conservation easement.
Twins Robert Gloeckner and Jean Turner grew up playing outdoors on this expansive ranch that their family purchased in the 1960s and used as a place to relax and recreate. Keeping it undeveloped, they ran sheep on the property until 1982, and currently graze a small number of cows and maintain a 23-acre vineyard.
This ranch, now owned by the siblings and grandchildren, has long been on land conservationists’ radar as nearly all of the property has been identified as essential to protecting biological diversity in the Bay Area. Highly forested with varying elevations, the ranch is part of a network of wildlife corridors that crisscross Sonoma County — and its numerous microclimates provide habitat options for plants and animals needing to adapt in response to climate change. Harboring two significant creeks, nearly two-thirds of the property drains to Lake Sonoma, which provides clean drinking water to the majority of Sonoma County and northern Marin County.
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Without protection, the threat of development and conversion is high in this region where estate homes and large-scale vineyards are increasingly encroaching into wild lands. A few years back, Ag + Open Space began working to negotiate a conservation easement over the property to protect its natural resources, but, even with a 47 percent discount from the landowners, the purchase price of $5.015 million was steep and a $500,000 shortfall remained.
Early last year, Rob Schepergerdes, real estate agent for the Gloeckner-Turner family, contacted Sonoma Land Trust for help. He states, “In an unprecedented move, the Land Trust board of directors voted to make a pivotal contribution toward the purchase by putting in $250,000 from their Land Protection Fund and bringing in the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to match their commitment, thus ensuring the completion of the deal. In real estate terms, Sonoma Land Trust became the ‘closer.’”
“We were so pleased to provide the additional funds to get this project over the finish line, and we appreciate the individuals who trust us to invest their philanthropic gifts in ways that have tremendous impact,” says Land Trust conservation director Wendy Eliot. “When we did our due diligence, we found this was an absolutely significant, high-priority land project for us, too.”
The Gloeckner-Turner family has deep roots in Sonoma County. With several firefighters among them, the family plans to work with CAL FIRE to implement a forest management plan to reduce the risk of wildfire. The family has also agreed to allow up to four public tours of their spectacular landscape annually.
“This is a phenomenal deal for the people of Sonoma County and it will provide numerous natural benefits for generations to come,” says Wendy. This project is expected to close next week.
Watch a short video of this spectacular property
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From executive director Eamon O’Byrne
Pay it forward
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Photo by Laurie Wachter.
In the land conservation world, you have to have good partners because land is expensive — especially here — and the world is an unpredictable place. Things happen, as we’ve all painfully learned, that can’t be anticipated. Knowing that we can rely on our partners, like Ag + Open Space and Regional Parks, among others, when things go awry, we’re ready to roll up our sleeves when they need us in turn. That was the case with the massive Gloeckner-Turner project. Similar to our Jenner Headlands project, which would have collapsed due to the 2009 state bond freeze had it not been for our partners, we were pleased to help when Ag + Open Space asked us to close a funding gap for its Gloeckner-Turner Ranch conservation easement.
Several individuals were part of this deal as the funding that Sonoma Land Trust provided came from individual donors and was matched by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. This project is a prime example of how your support is leveraged with other sources of public and private funding to help big projects come to fruition.
Along with Gloeckner-Turner (click here to learn more and contribute to sustaining our work) and the earlier Cooper Creek acquisition, we plan to protect four more exciting properties by next spring — an all-time record! You’ll read about them soon in the spring newsletter, which will be coming to you virtually for the first time in early June. We hope you’ll enjoy the convenience of the online newsletter being interactive so you can click directly to web pages and videos mentioned in its stories. Please let us know what you think.
Lastly, our digital programming continues next week with a free presentation on Wednesday, June 3 at 1pm by Ken-ichi Ueda, co-director of iNaturalist.org. Ken-ichi will talk about iNaturalist’s citizen science tools and how sharing observations of local nature with communities and biologists around the world helps them (and the rest of us) understand how everything in nature is interconnected. We hope you’ll tune in.
Register here
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Guess what we found at our Live Oaks Ranch Preserve — rainbow trout! 🐟 Learn more about the significance of this finding.
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Success on #GivingTuesdayNow! |
“Thank you for the important work you are doing to help make and keep Sonoma County a treasure for wildlife as well as humans.” — Jan Reddick
“Sonoma Land Trust is preserving our vital open space for future generations. What better investment can you make?” — Larry Robinson
Thanks to Jan, Larry and the 105 additional donors who made
#GivingTuesdayNow one for the record books by doubling our goal! Everyone at Sonoma Land Trust is inspired and overjoyed at what our community of conservationists can accomplish. Thank you for being a partner in our work. There’s still time to donate.
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We’ve been working with the State to reopen the Sonoma Developmental Center to hikers and are happy to report the trails reopened late last week. We’re also partnering with Regional Parks on developing a trail map, signage and interpretive materials for the site and hope to have them completed in June. Hikers will need to comply with State and County COVID-19 guidelines. |
Addressing climate change |
As the global climate warms and changes rapidly, we and our many partners are working hard to make the diverse landscapes of Sonoma County as resilient as possible in the years ahead. Watch our new video with Doug McConnell to learn more about our efforts to address climate change.
View (7-minute) video
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Nature is making a comeback around the bay and proving its resilience. With help from conservation groups led by Sonoma Land Trust, citizen scientists are documenting the return of thousands of birds to San Pablo Bay.
See video
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Join us June 3 at 1pm for an exciting — and free! — virtual presentation by guest speaker Ken-ichi Ueda, co-director of iNaturalist.org, who will be discussing citizen science and bringing people together using their online tools.
Register here
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TED Talk on monarchs & citizen science |
Monarch butterflies are dying at an alarming rate around the world. But San Francisco author Mary Ellen Hannibal says citizen science can help save them.
Watch her TED Talk here
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Kids and adults alike will enjoy recreating the monarch butterfly's lifecycle with our free craft book. Available in English or español. Get yours today!
Download it here
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Lions and foxes and bears — oh my! If you missed our recent presentation on wildlife corridors in Sonoma County, you can watch it on our YouTube page!
Watch it here
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Wildlife at McCormick Ranch |
Did you know that McCormick Ranch is teeming with wildlife? Once we acquire it, the ranch will permanently be protected for animals living and traveling along a key linkage known as the Marin Coast-Blue Ridge wildlife corridor. Check out our new video to learn more!
Watch the animals
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Questions or comments? Email Sheri Cardo, managing editor.
Copyright 2008–2020 Sonoma Land Trust. All Rights Reserved.
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