The Land Trust of Napa County is celebrating its 50th anniversary by shifting its focus from simply adding acreage to doubling down on how that land is cared for. That means a new chief executive, a push for a countywide sales tax, and a promise to target future acquisitions where they deliver the most benefit to the public. The nonprofit now oversees tens of thousands of acres across Napa County and says its next chapter will center on wildlife corridors, trail links and wildfire resilience, even as rising land prices, unpredictable grant funding and escalating fire costs make long-term stewardship more expensive than ever.
Five decades and 96,000 acres protected
Founded in 1976, the organization has pieced together a permanent network of protected lands that now totals about 96,000 acres, including preserves, conservation easements and properties later transferred to public agencies. According to the Land Trust of Napa County, that footprint covers more than 18% of Napa County and stretches from a Mount Veeder redwood forest to Carneros vineyard parcels and the brushy hills above Lake Berryessa. The Land Trust’s first project, a donation on Mount George from Si and June Foote, has since evolved into the Foote Botanical Preserve.
New leadership and a strategic pivot
Melanie Parker took over as CEO in January and is signaling a more targeted strategy: keep acquiring key properties, but make corridors, stewardship and public access the main filter. As reported by the Napa Valley Register, Parker has flagged wildlife movement corridors, trail connections, on-the-ground stewardship like prescribed burns and stronger community engagement as top priorities. Board members say the goal is to ensure land preserved can actually be maintained, not just proudly counted in an acreage total.
Ballot push aims to fund wildfire work
To help pay for that long-term care, the Land Trust has teamed up with Napa Firewise to qualify a countywide half-cent sales tax for the November ballot. The measure is projected to raise about $23 million a year for wildfire prevention, watershed protection and open-space projects. As reported by the Napa County Times, organizers plan to gather roughly 7,300 signatures to put the initiative before voters and argue that stable local revenue is needed because outside grants come and go. The outlet also notes that earlier countywide efforts to fund open space and wildfire prevention have failed, and that county supervisors have until Aug. 9 to place any measure on the ballot if they choose.
Big giving, bigger budget questions
Recent public filings and news coverage show the Land Trust received about $39.7 million in donations and grants in 2024, and payroll for its six highest-paid employees topped $1 million, according to the Napa Valley Register. Those numbers have fueled discussion about how sizable conservation groups juggle large one-time inflows of cash with the quieter, ongoing bills that come with stewardship and public access. Parker and board members contend that predictable revenue streams, including the proposed sales tax, would make long-term care less risky, more transparent and easier to plan for.
Recent deals and targeted protections
The Land Trust’s latest land moves show how that more surgical strategy plays out on the ground. In December 2024, Andy and Betty Beckstoffer donated a conservation easement that permanently protects 51 acres of Rutherford farmland, and the organization has been adding property near Lake Berryessa to stitch together habitat corridors. As detailed by the Land Trust of Napa County, these transactions help preserve scenic vistas and drinking-water sources while allowing staff to focus stewardship work on a smaller number of higher-value sites. Trustees say large-scale conservation now increasingly means connecting parcels so wildlife, water and people all see the benefits.
What to watch this summer
Organizers need to collect signatures this spring if they want to qualify the tax initiative without a referral from the Board of Supervisors, and the county has an Aug. 9 deadline to place a measure on the ballot, according to the Napa County Times. If the petition drive succeeds, voters will decide in November whether to commit local tax dollars to wildfire prevention, habitat protection and park projects. With that ballot campaign underway and a new stewardship plan expected this summer, the Land Trust is trying to convince Napa County that it can both protect land and reliably pay to care for it over the next 50 years.
