Gift Opportunities

All gifts, large and small, help to safeguard wildlife habitat, local food supplies, clean air and water, and preserve our Western culture by allowing families to maintain the tradition of ranching.

Please contact Shannon Foucault at (916) 444-2096 or sfoucault@rangelandtrust.org to learn more about any of the funding priorities listed below, or to explore an opportunity that may not be included here.

Thank you for helping to protect what matters to you, to our communities, and to the land and wildlife of California.

Please contact Shannon Foucault at (916) 444-2096 or sfoucault@rangelandtrust.org to learn more about any of the funding priorities listed below, or to explore an opportunity that may not be included here.

Thank you for helping to protect what matters to you, to our communities, and to the land and wildlife of California.

General Support

Unrestricted support is applied where needed most, allowing the Rangeland Trust leadership to respond to timely conservation priorities as well as basic operating needs such as professional staffing, travel to our constituencies throughout the state, and infrastructure and utilities that enable the work of conservation to be completed.

image of cows on hillside
Image of cows on hill side.

General Support

Unrestricted support is applied where needed most, allowing the Rangeland Trust leadership to respond to timely conservation priorities as well as basic operating needs such as professional staffing, travel to our constituencies throughout the state, and infrastructure and utilities that enable the work of conservation to be completed.

PRIORITY CONSERVATION PROJECTS

The Rangeland Trust has identified several projects on our active conservation list that will only be successful with support from private donors:

OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT

Annual Goal: $100,000

Education is a vital part of the Rangeland Trust’s efforts to promote understanding, appreciation, and advocacy for the conservation for working landscapes. Funding would create opportunities for targeted outreach to all-ages urban and rural audiences, engaging them virtually, in the communities where they live, and in-person on working ranches to see first-hand its immediate and longer-term value to the people living and working in California, as well as the vibrant habitat ranches provide for California’s wildlife. Youth in particular take part in the concepts and responsibilities of ranching, observe farm-to-table processes, and learn about career options within agriculture.

OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT

Annual Goal: $100,000

Education is a vital part of the Rangeland Trust’s efforts to promote understanding, appreciation, and advocacy for the conservation for working landscapes. Funding would create opportunities for targeted outreach to all-ages urban and rural audiences, engaging them virtually, in the communities where they live, and in-person on working ranches to see first-hand its immediate and longer-term value to the people living and working in California, as well as the vibrant habitat ranches provide for California’s wildlife. Youth in particular take part in the concepts and responsibilities of ranching, observe farm-to-table processes, and learn about career options within agriculture.

ENDOWMENT OPPORTUNTIES

The Rangeland Trust has identified several endowment goals to further strengthen the organization’s sustainability and service to the working lands community:

image of cows in field

CONSERVATION INVESTMENT FUND

Goal: $5,000,000

The Conservation Investment Fund is a temporary restricted endowment that provides gap funding to defray project closing expenses when a little extra help is needed to get over the finish line. Examples include assisting with transaction costs for donated and bargain-sale projects, closing the funding gap on projects within key landscape conservation initiatives, and supporting the due diligence on land that is donated or bequeathed to us. This Fund allows the Rangeland Trust to do what is needed, when it is needed, to protect important rangelands.

image of cows in field

CONSERVATION INVESTMENT FUND

Goal: $5,000,000

The Conservation Investment Fund is a temporary restricted endowment that provides gap funding to defray project closing expenses when a little extra help is needed to get over the finish line. Examples include assisting with transaction costs for donated and bargain-sale projects, closing the funding gap on projects within key landscape conservation initiatives, and supporting the due diligence on land that is donated or bequeathed to us. This Fund allows the Rangeland Trust to do what is needed, when it is needed, to protect important rangelands.

VAIL FUND

Goal: $1,000,000

In honor of Nita Vail and her 20+ years of leadership at the Rangeland Trust, we are building a funding resource that future CEOs can draw upon to pursue initiatives that advance the sustainability and effectiveness of the organization. Contributions to the Vail Fund will be considered temporarily restricted for flexibility to act on cutting-edge and timely opportunities, and will be invested to encourage growth over time. The goal of the Vail Fund is to keep the Rangeland Trust at the forefront of land trusts while serving as a nimble and creative thought-leader, and to ensure the continued impact of its mission within California.

image of Nita Vail
image of Nita Vail

VAIL FUND

Goal: $1,000,000

In honor of Nita Vail and her 20+ years of leadership at the Rangeland Trust, we are building a funding resource that future CEOs can draw upon to pursue initiatives that advance the sustainability and effectiveness of the organization. Contributions to the Vail Fund will be considered temporarily restricted for flexibility to act on cutting-edge and timely opportunities, and will be invested to encourage growth over time. The goal of the Vail Fund is to keep the Rangeland Trust at the forefront of land trusts while serving as a nimble and creative thought-leader, and to ensure the continued impact of its mission within California.

image of yellow bloom field

OPERATIONAL ENDOWMENT

Goal: $20,000,000

The Rangeland Trust operates in an efficient and cost-effective manner, with a lean staff producing large outcomes. We are building an endowment to cover our core annual operating costs and help guarantee our long-term sustainability and service to ranchers and rangelands.
image of yellow bloom field

OPERATIONAL ENDOWMENT

Goal: $20,000,000

The Rangeland Trust operates in an efficient and cost-effective manner, with a lean staff producing large outcomes. We are building an endowment to cover our core annual operating costs and help guarantee our long-term sustainability and service to ranchers and rangelands.

WORKING CATTLE RANCH: A FUTURE PROJECT

The Rangeland Trust’s successful Ranch Tours program has shown us the value of maintaining a working ranch property where students, adults and families can take part in hands-on ranching experiences. The site will remain under active management as a cattle ranch. While we would intend to offer ongoing educational programs on site, parts of the ranch could also be used to test and evaluate programs for both ranchers and others who live in or work in California.

WORKING CATTLE RANCH:
A FUTURE PROJECT

The Rangeland Trust’s successful Ranch Tours program has shown us the value of maintaining a working ranch property where students, adults and families can take part in hands-on ranching experiences. The site will remain under active management as a cattle ranch. While we would intend to offer ongoing educational programs on site, parts of the ranch could also be used to test and evaluate programs for both ranchers and others who live in or work in California.

BLOOM RANCH | TUOLUMNE COUNTY

$200,000

The Bloom Ranch is a local economic gem, attracting outdoor recreationists to visit the area and their world-renowned natural climbing feature, the Jailhouse Rock. They also winter their herd of horses on this land, which in summertime take tourists riding through northern areas in Yosemite National Park. The water that flows over the ranch feeds into important watersheds that support urban populations in the San Francisco Bay Area. There is significant pressure on the family to sell their ranch to be subdivided and developed into a growing suburban sprawl in the region. They would rather see it be conserved and protect the views of rolling hillsides and wildlife for the visitors who come to experience the natural wonders.

We have secured most of the funding to complete conservation, and are seeking your support for the final $200,000. Like many ranchers, they have been negatively impacted during the coronavirus pandemic, making it all the more important that we can complete this project in a timely manner.

BUFFORD RANCH | KERN COUNTY

Goal: $125,000

Louis L’Amour was so inspired after visiting this area that it was featured several times in his novels. Today, Walker Basin is at risk due to development of “ranchettes” that are segmenting the region into properties as small as 2.5 acres. The owners of the Bufford Ranch are trying to rescue that land back to its original glory. After acquiring several overgrazed parcels in the early 2000s, a retired CHP officer from LA worked to restore the land for livestock and wildlife. The Rangeland Trust then helped him conserve the Ranch in 2013, from which he used the income to purchase and conserve an adjacent stretch of land in 2016, and has now used those funds to add a third piece! His goal is to stop the rapid subdivision and development, thereby protecting the land, habitat, water resources, and wildlife connectivity provided by this region. See more of his remarkable story in the June 2020 issue of the California Cattleman magazine. 

The landowner has partnered with the Rangeland Trust in completing two previous easements, using income from each transaction to purchase more land to add, restore and conserve. The Bufford Ranch is near 7,300 acres of Bureau of Land Management land, providing connectivity for wildlife moving between Tejon, through Tehachapi, and Sequoia National Forest.

OAK KNOLL RANCH | TEHAMA COUNTY

Goal: $500,000

The owners of this small ranch near the Mendocino National Forest receive regular phone calls to sell their land – even though it’s not for sale. Next door, properties are already being split into 40-, 80-, and 160-acre parcels. This family doesn’t want to see that happen to this Ranch. Since 1971, they have built a strong reputation for producing high quality Hereford cattle, providing a critical supply that is sold locally, statewide, and nationally. They utilize the best current management practices to maintain and improve wildlife habitat, while stewarding resources along the Sacramento River watershed.

The Oak Knoll Ranch is adjacent to another active conservation project by the Rangeland Trust, further expanding a valuable landscape conservation opportunity near the Mendocino National Forest, and thereby enabling a wildlife haven in the face of growing nearby development. Financial pressures are building, and we need to be able to help conserve this ranch as soon as possible.

VARIAN ARABIANS RANCH | SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY

This 190-acre historic Arabian horse ranch is in the path of intense development from rapidly expanding viticulture activity and subdivision housing projects. Sheila Varian left her Ranch to the Rangeland Trust so that we may conserve it and help create a future for this special place.

This Ranch is currently listed for sale, but we still need funds to complete conservation. Click the Donate button above to support this effort, or visit www.californiaoutdoorproperties.com if you are interested in purchasing the property.