Alphabet Farms Ranch F

“We are very excited at Oswit Land Trust because we can support farming and food security, advance state agricultural, conservation, and climate goals, and provide immediate benefits to farm owners in California through agricultural conservation easements. Our farm owner partners who agree to establish easements on their property will receive a significant payment for the easement while maintaining ownership of their property in perpetuity – and while supporting the farm economy by ensuring land stays in agricultural production. Farm owners have the flexibility in the future to pass their land down to their family, or even sell the property, while still retaining the benefit of the financial payment for the easement,” according to Jeff Faxon, Director of OLT’s ACE Division.

The United States loses roughly 150 acres of natural land and 40 acres of farmland every hour. Eastern Riverside and Imperial Counties are specifically at extremely high risk of overdevelopment. The agricultural conservation easements on these portions of Alphabet Farms land will help mitigate development threats and promote the preservation of agriculture, support native wildlife, and enhance national and global food security.

The Imperial Valley is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the U.S. It produces high-quality forage and seed crops that feed Americans and the world, and it provides two-thirds of the winter produce which feeds the U.S. and Canada. Protecting farms and ranches in the area will help retain jobs and local tax revenue, keeping agriculture strong in a region where one out of six jobs are supported by agriculture.

Funds for the Alphabet Farms Ranch F easement were made available through the California Strategic Growth Council’s Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) Program in collaboration with the Department of Conservation. SALC is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities. Separately, the U.S. Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program funded the acquisition of a Restrictive Use Easement (RUE) on the property. The RUE is being managed by the Navy through Naval Air Facility – El Centro.