Land Conservation Veteran Joins California Rangeland Trust

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – August 20, 2011 –

California Rangeland Trust is pleased to announce Nancy Schaefer as the latest addition to its team as the organization’s Bay Area Program Manager.

In this role Schaefer will use her 24 years of conservation real estate, program development and project management experience to facilitate conservation easements and related projects on working ranches in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

“Nancy brings a unique appreciation of the Bay Area’s privately owned and managed rangeland to the Rangeland Trust,” said Darrel Sweet, a member of the Rangeland Trust board of directors and Livermore rancher. “She has been a leader of the Bay Area conservationists that recognize conserving our privately owned rangelands is vital. These rangelands are lands with existing vegetation suitable to grazing livestock and make up about 25% of the Bay Area’s 4.3 million acres. The ongoing stewardship of Bay Area ranchers is vital to preserving clean water, fresh air, working landscapes, wildlife habitats and wildlife corridors in the bay area. Nancy’s long successful involvement in Bay Area conservation will elevate Rangeland Trust’s efforts to conserve the region’s private rangelands for the benefit of everyone.”

Prior to joining the Rangeland Trust, Schaefer served as a land conservation consultant to numerous agencies including the Bay Area Open Space Council, California Coastal Conservancy, and Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and numerous other public agencies, nonprofits and foundations. She has also worked for The Conservation Fund, The Trust for Public Land, and established the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture. It is no secret that she is extremely qualified and a great fit at the Rangeland Trust. Her passion for helping land owners protect what matters is evidenced by the more than 50,000 acres of California land she has helped protect in her career.

Schaefer received her MBA from California State University Sacramento and her Bachelor of Science degree in forest science from the University of New Hampshire. In this new role, she plans to pour her passion and years of experience into aiding the Rangeland Trust’s mission.

“I have long admired California Rangeland Trust’s effectiveness at conserving ranches that keep families on the land. It became obvious just how vital rangeland is for maintaining the region’s biological diversity while managing the Bay Area Open Space Council’s Conservation Lands Network, a plan for biodiversity conservation in the region. I am very pleased to be working with Rangeland Trust to achieve this vision that is shared by many in the Bay Area.”

Schaefer is actively involved in the Bay Area community serving as a foster parent in Contra Costa County since 2005. In past years she served her community as the vice chair of the John Muir Association, an appointee on the Park Advisory Committee in the East Bay Regional Park District, and a founding member of the Muir Heritage Land Trust.