None The Nature Conservancy in California Press Releases Search All Press Releases Misty Herrin Phone: (213) 327-0405 E-mail: mherrin@tnc.org

Nature Conservancy Purchases Arroyo Seco Ranch

Seasonal Cattle Grazing May Continue

Monterey, CA — March 11, 2002 — The Nature Conservancy of California announced today its purchase of Arroyo Seco Ranch, also known as the Mueller Ranch, in the coastal mountains of Monterey County west of the Salinas River Valley.

The $2.9 million sale was the first land protection deal for the Conservancy's new Monterey Project, launched last year. The Conservancy has worked in the Monterey area in the past, playing a key role in preserving Elkhorn Slough in the 1970s and 1980s.

"Arroyo Seco, like Elkhorn Slough, the Big Sur Coast, and Monterey Bay, is one of many natural treasures in Monterey County," said Monterey Project Director Bill Leahy. "The Nature Conservancy is working to safeguard the county's finest unprotected natural areas for present and future generations."

The mission of The Nature Conservancy, the world's largest conservation organization, is to preserve biological diversity by protecting the natural habitats that native species need to survive.

The Conservancy will decide on the final disposition of the Arroyo Seco property after a period of concentrated study of the ranch's biological values. During the study period, which could last more than a year, the organization will likely continue the previous owner's practice of leasing the ranch for seasonal cattle grazing.

"We believe that the long-term viability of ranching in Monterey County is critical to the successful protection of the county's natural resources," said Christina Fischer, Director of Community-Based Programs for the Monterey Project of The Nature Conservancy.

"The Nature Conservancy wants to maintain working landscapes and economic uses of the land that are compatible with natural habitat," Fischer continued. "We are working successfully with ranchers from one end of California to the other, and we look forward to doing so here in Monterey as well."

The Nature Conservancy often works with willing landowners to protect land — especially ranches — with conservation easements that limit subdivision, development, or other uses incompatible with good wildlife habitat. Conservation easements are permanent legal restrictions on the use of property. Such easements, which effectively allow landowners to sell the development rights to their land while retaining ownership, can be worth from a third to a half or more of the property's overall market value.

"Safeguarding Arroyo Seco Ranch is a crucial first step toward achieving our conservation vision for this scenic, biologically rich part of California's Central Coast ecoregion," said Project Director Leahy. "The ranch's natural qualities and location made it a prime conservation target for the Conservancy. It has a rare type of floodplain forest and good steelhead habitat in the two and a half miles of the Arroyo Seco River that run through the property. Arroyo Seco provides important recreational opportunities as well. Shielding the ranch from development will help ensure clean water for humans and native fish alike."

Protecting and restoring steelhead habitat is one of the Conservancy's goals in the Arroyo Seco area. The 1,675-acre ranch also includes more than two miles of Horse Canyon, an important tributary of Arroyo Seco.

"Because the ranch is adjacent to Los Padres National Forest, it will also help us protect a significant ecological linkage between Big Sur and the Salinas Valley," continued Leahy. "Securing this corridor is important to ensure that wildlife can move about the countryside, find mates, and maintain the healthy, diverse gene pool necessary for the long-term survival of their species."