Photo by: Erik Vink
Cook Ranch
San Joaquin
County
Preserving Agricultural Productivity
On
February 20, 2008, Bill and Lynn Cook entered into a conservation easement
agreement with the California Rangeland Trust that ensures the 2,235-acre W.F.
Cook Cattle Company Ranch will forever remain the same. The Ranch is located in
a scenic, open rangeland area of gentle, sloping terrain with several broad
knolls and valleys that support grazing operations. Historically used for cattle, the Ranch was
under threat from ranchette development as the population of San Joaquin County
expands eastward to the Sierra foothills. The Ranch will now be a major open
space buffer while conserving the agricultural use, soils, character, value and
utility of the land. The conservation easement allows the ongoing agricultural
productivity of the property while limiting nonagricultural use. The California Rangeland Trust worked with
the Trust for Public Land in assembling grant funds from the State of California
Department of Conservation’s California Farmland Conservancy Program, and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection
Program. Placing an easement on the land demonstrates the owner’s commitment to
conservation and is a tremendous way to continue the historic legacy of good
land stewardship.
Designed by: Digital Persuasions