2019 HIGHLIGHT REEL

December 31, 2019 by Alyssa rolen

What an exciting year it has been for the Rangeland Trust! With the support of our ranching partners, donors, and friends, we’ve hit a lot of milestones. Here are just a few highlights:

More than 10,000 acres of beautiful working rangelands were conserved across the state in 2019. Funding for these projects came from contributions from the community, federal and state agencies, and mitigation partnerships with outside businesses seeking to offset development effects.

We completed a study in partnership with UC Berkeley to evaluate the ecological benefits provided by conserved rangelands. We plan to roll out the study in early 2020. Here’s a hint of what’s to come: Every $1 invested in rangeland conservation, returns $3 in economic value annually!

We initiated efforts to explore opportunities to partner with both public and private utility companies throughout California to offer rangeland mitigation solutions, while working to ensure critical habitat for California’s threatened and endangered species can remain open and available for generations to come.

A Western Affair 2019 was held in June at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, California. This spectacular weekend served as the perfect reminder for why the Rangeland Trust does what it does: To serve the land that provides for all of us, honor the legacies of our ranching partners who steward our valuable natural resources, and join with friends and neighbors from different backgrounds to enjoy some of life’s simplest pleasures. Because of our sponsors and attendees’ incredible generosity, this unforgettable evening raised more than $250,000 toward protecting California’s beautiful and important open landscapes. (Save the date for A Western Affair 2020 on April 18 at Rancho Mission Viejo in San Juan Capistrano!)

“Reunir” is the Spanish word for gather and in February, we did just that by joining with friends both new and old to celebrate our vaquero heritage, the ranching way of life, the community’s deep connection to open space, and the Rangeland Trust’s role in keeping our working landscapes just as they are forever. This event demonstrated the power of the land in bringing people together. (Save the date to gather with us again on February 20, 2020 at the Santa Barbara Club!)

More than 200 youth and adults from urban areas visited working ranches in Northern California to learn about agriculture, conservation, nutrition and healthy lifestyles through the Where Your Food Grows and Grazes program. Thank you to our dedicated Legacy Council volunteers; ranching partners at Keegan Ranch, PT Ranch, and Five Star Land and Livestock; and our sponsors at Raley’s Giving and AT&T Aspire for making these impactful tours possible.

The Board of Directors adopted a new five-year strategic plan to guide the future success of our work. The plan focuses on three priority areas: Conserve the land, change the thinking, and sustain the organization. We see the Rangeland Trust being a leading provider of conservation and stewardship services, as well as a trusted national, state, and community thought leader in the conservation of working lands.

THE LAND CONNECTS US.

Whether you are from a ranching background or live in an urban area, rangelands play vital roles in each of our lives.

This past year has shown us how a mutual commitment to land conservation can lead to new friendships, passionate advocates, and an engaged community of conservation-minded supporters. We are building a movement, and our collective accomplishments in 2019 remind us just how much we can achieve when we work together.

Thank you for your dedication to preserving our precious natural resources and for helping to conserve over 330,000 acres of beautiful rangelands that nourish our families, our wildlife, and our state. As we carry this momentum into 2020, we are more optimistic than ever for the future of the organization.

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California Rangeland Trust is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 31-1631453) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

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