Pine Creek Watershed Land Going into Conservation Easement

Pine Creek Watershed Land Going into Conservation Easement
Nearly 14,000 acres of working ranch land within the Pine Creek Watershed in southeastern Tehama County is in the process of going into conservation easements.

Tuesday, Apr 2 2013, 6:29 pm
By Julie R. Johnson/Corning Observer
Link to Corning Observer Article

Nearly 14,000 acres of working ranch land within the Pine Creek Watershed in southeastern Tehama County is in the process of going into conservation easements.

The state's Sierra Nevada Conservancy grant program approved $50,300 to applicant Northern California Regional Land Trust in early March to assist in putting the land in easement.

"Those funds will pay for most of the four land appraisals," said Zach Mendes, land projects coordinator for the land trust.

The acreage is four large ranches owned by four entities, which will provide contiguous vital habitat for migratory animals and deer winter forage, according to the state.

Easements allow landowners to surrender certain development rights in perpetuity and donate them to land trusts in exchange for payments or tax benefits equivalent to the lost market value.

Easements are popular with some landowners because they can continue owning and occupying a parcel, yet reap financial benefits from donating the development rights.

This isn't the first time Northern California Regional Land Trust has added acreage to its list of agricultural easements in Tehama County

Through the land trust, the Ohm family of Red Bluff placed 520 acres in conservation easement in 2011.

Voluntary easements protecting two working ranches and approximately 7,132 contiguous acres in western Tehama County, the Red Bank Project, were also acquired by the land trust in 2011.

In addition to those projects, the land trust has a conservation easement for the 640 acre R and R Ranch, and 1,080 acres at Leininger Camp.

Mendes said once the Pine Creek Watershed appraisals have been completed the land trust will begin negotiating terms to purchase the acreage with the landowners.

He said funding to purchase the ranches under conservation easement will probably come through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Wildlife Conservation Board.

The land trust said it assists Northern California landowners and public agencies in the voluntary protection of land and other natural resources. Its motto is "keeping working land working and wild land wild for future generations."

While many agree with this ideal, some find fault.

"The devil is always in the details," said Wally Roney, a cattle rancher and former president of the Tehama County Cattlemen's Association. "I can guarantee you each conservation easement contract has a twist, and a lot of landowners going into these contracts are not reading close enough to understand exactly what they are getting into and understanding all of the details."

Roney is a tenacious property rights advocate.

"To some of us who have been in this business all our life, we understand that property rights is the success of our country and agriculture industry," he said.

Roney believes placing a ranch in conservation easement is giving up property rights for whatever financial compensation the land trust is offering.

"It is about short-term gain and long-term loss for the landowner. In a lot of cases, the landowner is giving up grazing rights and water rights as well. I question the sanity of giving up these rights for any amount of money," Roney said.

Roney's ranch abuts some of the acreage in the Pine Creek Watershed Project and he has leased, or at one time owned, most of the 14,000 acres at one point or another.

"I've ran cattle on almost all of that ground. I've heard of instances when land has gone into conservation easement and in the contract fine print it states cattle can't drink out of this creek or that creek. Then, if the landowner wants to water his cattle he has to drill a well. There is a hidden and unanticipated cost," Roney said.

He goes so far as to call conservation easements "different levels of prostitution."

When approached about his property going into conservation easement, Roney said he knew he didn't understand all the details, so he hired people to do a study on every detail.

"I found out it wasn't something I wanted to get associated with," he said.

But Bill and Kay Burrows saw a value in having a conservation easment on their ranch located in western Tehama County.

"We put our ranch in conservation easement in 2010," Bill Burrows said. "That is when the blinders were taken off and I was exposed to a new way of thinking."

Today the couple run the ranch in a holistic management approach.

"We are still happy with their decision," Burrows said. "Because of the conservation easement we know our land will never be subdivided for ever and ever. There will never be a house on every hill. When it is sold it will be in one piece. Knowing that makes me comfortable when I kick the bucket."

Burrows said the land will remain more valuable as one piece and is more valuable to wildlife.

"Another advantage of being in conservation easement is it keeps us on our toes in relationship to good conservation practices," he said.

That is a way of thinking with which Roney disagrees.

"If I own my land, it is my land and I don't want someone else telling me what I can and can't do with it. Where I can run cattle and where I can't. I just don't see the sanity in giving up my property rights in anyway," he said. "If I have to pay taxes on it, then I want to retain my rights over my land."