The City of Davis has just pocketed a $420,000 grant from the California Strategic Growth Council to aid in the purchase of a conservation easement that's set to preserve the agricultural soul of a 79-acre patchwork of farmland at the periphery of the city limits. The land, a family-held beacon of agricultural resilience, sprouts tomatoes, corn, and an array of other crops; it lies nestled at the crossroads of County Roads 31 and 96, cradled by the natural serenity of the Dry Slough.
With a price tag of about $510,000, costs tallying up to include closing and a monitoring endowment, the City now plans to co-own this stretch of green with the Yolo Land Trust—a partnership promising to perpetually shield the land's rich soils and vital riparian corridor from the clutches of urban sprawl. The City is expected to cough up the remaining $90,000 from its own coffers, densely woven with strands of open space funds, to not only purchase but also to monitor the easement closely.
"This grant reinforces Davis’ long-standing commitment to sustainability and agricultural preservation," City Manager Daryel Dunston was quoted in the City of Davis recent announcement. With several such conservation efforts already under their belt since 1990, the City and its various trusts have wrapped their protective arms around more than 6,000 acres within the Davis Planning Area, which is strikingly equal to the city's own geographic footprint.
Backing this green endeavor is California's Strategic Growth Council’s Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) program, part of the larger California Climate Investments initiative. It's an ambitious project that aims to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions, inject strength into the economy, and better public health—and the SALC program is just one of the many tools in the toolbox, managing to both feed the state's war chest with cap-and-trade dollars and lay down roots for continued growth and protection of the state's agricultural heritage.
Folks interested in digging deeper into the City of Davis' Open Space program can follow their curiosity to the City’s website, where maps and additional information on the land the city has protected are available. For something a bit more personal, they can always reach out directly to Open Space Program Manager Tracie Reynolds at [email protected] for queries.
