In the mid-1970s when Louise Moulton sold the last remaining parcels of Rancho Niguel in Orange County, she took the proceeds and purchased 14,000 acres near Lompoc in Santa Barbara County. She wasn’t ready to give up the pastoral, ranching lifestyle she had grown up with. In the early 2000s, she conserved her ranch with the California Rangeland Trust and began a partnership that continues to thrive today.
Louise’s heirs continue to have ties to ranching and agriculture. They are all founding board members of Moulton Museum in Orange County, which strives to preserve the Golden State’s ranching history. Leading the Museum is its CEO, Jared Mathis. Some of his earliest memories come from growing up at the Mathis Ranch in Maxwell (Colusa County), which was also born out of the sale of Rancho Niguel.
“Growing up on a ranch and having the opportunity to work and care for the land and livestock was truly a blessing and something that is, unfortunately, harder and harder to do in California. The work ethic and appreciation for life and open space that you gain while working on a ranch is something everyone should experience.”
Besides overseeing the museum, Jared also runs the Moulton Company, a global real estate investment firm; owns and operates Mathis Ranches, Moulton Farms and Bar M Cattle Company; and serves as Mayor Pro Tempore of Laguna Hills. In 2023, he joined the Rangeland Trust’s Board of Directors, stepping into the seat once held by his uncle, Woody Barnes, one of the organization’s founding members.
Jared not only gives his time and expertise to the Rangeland Trust, he also provides significant annual support. For Jared, giving financially is another way to further his family’s tradition of supporting working lands and the benefits they provide for generations to come. Through his giving, Jared has challenged fellow board members to get more engaged philanthropically, and has offered matching gifts for our annual giving donors. “Our family believes in giving back. It’s a tradition we are proud to uphold. It makes our communities stronger. I’m not going to lie, sometimes it’s not easy, but it’s always worth it. It gives me great joy to support an organization like Rangeland Trust to help preserve a way of life, save critical working lands, and teach others the importance of actively managing open space.”
For Jared, his work with the Moulton Museum and his service to the Rangeland Trust are complementary—one helps preserve the history of ranching, while the other helps ensure it has a future. He believes that “there is a great appetite for people to know what existed before the land was developed,” and he hopes that others can share in the experience of growing up on the land and understand that “by taking care of the land, it will take care of you.”
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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