History
Anderson Valley Land Trust (AVLT) was founded in 1991, and is the only land trust that primarily focuses on Anderson Valley and the Navarro River Watershed. We provide local expertise to help landowners conserve their land so their property can be protected, managed, and used to preserve its conservation values. Over three decades, Anderson Valley Land Trust secured 29 easements for approximately 2,700 protected acres on a $30,000 per year budget with an all-volunteer board.
According to the Land Trust Alliance, the premier national organization supporting the land trust movement, there are about 1,700 land trusts in the U.S., of which 60% operate on the all-volunteer business model. (All-volunteer means that an organization has no more than one part-paid employee.) LTA reports that the majority of all-volunteer land trusts hold five easements or fewer and have annual budgets of less than $20,000. This makes AVLT an above average organization, in terms of budget and number of conservation easements held, among other all-volunteer land trusts nation-wide.
Where We Are Today
In 2023, AVLT was awarded a 3-year grant by Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC). This along with many generous donations allowed AVLT to hire our first ever full-time Conservation Director, Price Sheppy, in January of 2024. Price brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for environmental conservation, and has moved forward the mission of AVLT to preserve and protect Anderson Valley for future generations. See Price’s bio under Our Board.
Today, AVLT currently holds 31 easements, joining with landowners to protect a total of 2,989 acres of forests, riparian areas, agricultural land, oak woodlands, meadows, and views in Anderson Valley. Some of the acreage will be “forever wild,” where natural processes are paramount. Others have been designated as working forest or as agricultural land that will be managed using sustainable practices. Each easement is individually tailored to the property’s conservation values and the landowner’s needs and vision.
We work with an annual operating budget of about $140,000. Our funds come primarily from public contributions and grants for work on specific projects. We have a small office in downtown Boonville, with a full-time Conservation Director and a part-time Administrative Assistant, as well as very active Board of 9 Directors.
Conservation
We publish our semi-annual newsletter Good Dirt, maintain our website, and sponsor a number of nature walks and other activities throughout the year. All of the work of forming conservation easements, monitoring the easements, creating partnerships with local organizations, and hosting fundraisers is performed by staff and Board working together with a shared goal: to help protect our cherished valley.
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Recognition
A presentation by AVLT to the Mendocino County Supervisors in 1993 resulted in the Board recognizing non-profit land trusts in Mendocino County as non-governmental partners in land and resource conservation. This recognition signifies the public benefits of conservation easements and helps landowner donors receive IRS tax deductions on their qualifying easements.
