Carmel, Calif. — Just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, The Big Sur Land Trust announced today that it has received the donation of a conservation easement on the 1,107-acre Colinas Ranch owned by Dr. Ron and Mrs. Linda Stoney. This action by the Stoney family will ensure the protection in perpetuity of some of the Central Coast’s most significant oak woodlands habitat, large intact native grasslands, riparian forests, and critical wildlife corridors.

The Colinas Ranch is located in both Monterey and San Benito counties, in the rapidly developing Gabilan foothills northeast of Salinas (Old Stage Road & 101 Corridor) and south of San Juan Bautista (152 corridor between San Juan Bautista and Hollister).

“In donating this conservation easement we were really thinking of future generations and the legacy of conservation we were leaving to them,” said Dr. Stoney. “While working on cattle ranches growing up in Carmel Valley, I was attracted to the land and have since seen just how impactful land can be. After acquiring this undisturbed pristine rangeland and enjoying its quiet pleasure for many years, it was really important to my wife and I that we preserve the true gift that land provides for both people and wildlife. The easement helps us meet these goals and provides a tax benefit as well. We hope it is an inspiration to other landowners to preserve their valuable rangelands in their natural state.”

The conservation easement covers the entire 1,107-acre ranch and protects a critical wildlife corridor for wide-ranging wildlife species traveling north and south between the Santa Cruz and Gabilan Mountains. A motion sensor camera located on their property for several years has documented a treasure-trove of wildlife, including mountain lion, black-tailed deer, fox, coyote and bobcat. The easement builds on previous conservation projects in the Gabilan Mountains undertaken by other conservation organizations and public agencies that have protected over 17,000 acres. The Stoney easement also supports continued cattle grazing on the property.

“This project furthers our efforts to work with long-term Monterey County families on voluntary land agreements that provide both working lands and landscape conservation outcomes,” said Bill Leahy, executive director of The Big Sur Land Trust. “As our first conservation easement in the Gabilan watershed, we are deeply grateful to Ron and Linda Stoney for their willingness to collaborate with us, for the extraordinary gift of land stewardship they have given to the community and for the habitat connectivity benefits their gift provides to our region’s wildlife.”

The easement allows the Stoney family to maintain ownership and use of the property, including an existing cabin site, while at the same time permanently preventing any other future development from occurring. The property owners chose to take advantage of a federal tax law that allows landowners to get significant tax deductions if they place conservation easements on their properties. As this law is set to expire at the end of 2009, Congress is right now considering a one-year extension and possibly making the law permanent. This would provide valuable incentives for voluntary land conservation into the future. (For more information on this important conservation easement provision, see http://www.landtrustalliance.org.)

Colinas Ranch may have played a critical role in California and U.S. history as well, as the site where the first U.S. flag was flown in California and as a critical location for John C. Fremont and his troops to fight off Mexican troops led by Jose Castro, in the Battle of la Natividad. Historians know that John C. Fremont was on Gabilan Peak during March 6-9, 1846, but a question remains as to where exactly he built his fort to prepare for attack by Mexican troops. In 1959, the State of California commissioned historian Fred B. Rogers to conduct a study to answer this question. The evidence, he concluded, all pointed to the military crest of Yates Peak, located on the Colinas Ranch, with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside and the Mission in San Juan Bautista, as the site where military operations were staged.

Under the terms of the agreement with the property owners, The Big Sur Land Trust will hold and monitor the easement. “It is really important to us that an organization as professional as the Land Trust is handling this,” added Dr. Stoney.

Founded in 1978, the mission of The Big Sur Land Trust is to conserve the significant lands and waters of California’s Central Coast for all generations. The Land Trust has protected more than 30,000 acres of land since its inception. The Land Trust is committed to pursuing land and water conservation work that strengthens our communities and inspires a stewardship ethic so that Monterey County can maintain its unique and special place in the world. The goal and commitment of the Land Trust is to pursue resource conservation that supports the well-being of land and people and sustains our region’s unique quality of life for us all. For more information visit www.bigsurlandtrust.org