A century ago, the purchase of the Lone Star Ranch was sealed with a transaction of five gold coins. For five generations, the family stewarding this ranch has learned so much from the land and enhanced their care to align with the unique ecosystems here. Now, ranch owners, Mark and Dina Moore, are seeking the next step: permanent conservation of the Lone Star Ranch.
A real issue is surfacing in ranching these days, as the upcoming generation shows reluctance to return to the land on which they grew up. With the rising costs of ranching, it is extremely challenging for the next wave of stewards to keep operations viable. Add in the abandoned marijuana cultivation sites and elevated foreclosures neighboring the Lone Star Ranch, and you can see how the Moore Family is up against an uncertain outlook.
All of the work that’s being done to preserve the land could be at risk without a new generation of stewards.
Mark and Dina have three children—son, Jake, and daughters, Lauren and Teal—who understand this risk, and want to step up and take their turn to safeguard this land. They want to preserve its natural beauty and support its inhabitants. Who better to understand the unique needs of Lone Star Ranch than the children of the family that has cared for it for over 100 years? And they’ve already demonstrated their desire to take the reins.
They’ve been following in the steps of their ancestors—learning from the land and integrating new ways to improve their management and stewardship. Recently, they have implemented practices that shrink the ranch’s environmental footprint and support the needs of local wildlife while reducing carbon output in the atmosphere. Jake, Lauren, and Teal give us hope for the next generation entrusted with caring for California’s rangelands.
If we continue to lose those who steward the land, how can we preserve the very rangelands we are working so hard to protect? With fewer young people returning to the land, it’s important that we make staying on the ranch possible for those who want to be there. And Jake, Lauren, and Teal want to be there! You can be part of providing such critical continuity for the Lone Star Ranch.
Conserving makes it easier for transitioning lands across generations. You can help Jake, Lauren, and Teal stay on the lands they know, while helping to stop the rapid loss of working agricultural lands in California. Please give so they can have the same opportunities as the Hanson Family (Read the story from page 1 of the Spring 2024 Newsletter).
The lands you love are losing the people who can care for them. But you can help. Send in your gift to help conserve the Lone Star Ranch so that it can be permanently protected for all generations to come.
Originally published in the Rangeland Trust Spring 2024 Newsletter.
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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