Working Landscapes Initiative

The Sierra Business Council launched the Working Landscapes Initiative as a unique partnership to maintain ranching and farming as a viable part of the Sierra Nevada’s diverse economy and natural and historic heritage. The mission of Working Landscapes Initiative is now being achieved through the Northern Sierra Partnership (NSP). Click here to learn more about NSP.

The Working Landscapes Initiative (WLI) achieves its goals by working in five key areas:

Research: Conduct research and analysis to educate landowners and decision-makers about the state of ranching and farming in the Sierra Nevada, describe key trends and opportunities for landowners and local residents and provide tools to achieve their goals.

Workshops and Forums: Provides forums and technical assistance on tax and estate planning, ranch diversification, conservation easement processes, financing options, business practices and niche marketing.

Estate Planning Referrals: Maintain a list of financial professionals who understand the unique estate planning needs of agricultural landowners and can help find ways to shepherd lands through generational transitions.

Conservation Services: Provide assistance to landowners to help them understand the benefits (financial and otherwise) of conservation easement, private stewardship and resource management programs to determine whether those options are appropriate tools and to locate appropriate partners to work with to meet their goals.

Conservation Financing: Thanks to generous donors, the Working Landscape Initiative has leveraged public and private funds. Staff have successfully helped link funding partners with local projects.

Results
Through the Working Landscapes Initiative, the Sierra Business Council:

• Directed a research effort to analyze the state of Sierra Nevada ranching and farming, identify trends changing agriculture in the region, and make policy recommendations on maintaining the ranching and farming economy.
• Partnered with Sierra and Plumas Counties to assist with economic development in communities dependant upon working ranches and forests.
• Protected ranching while implementing conservation successes in the largest alpine valley in California- the Sierra Valley- spanning Sierra and Plumas counties.
• SBC orchestrated a successful partnership between ranchers, the California Rangeland Trust, the Feather River Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy and the Pacific Forest Trust to preserve more than 30,000 acres of land through conservation easements.
• Partnered with local counties and private sector entities to help communities understand the financial consequences of diminishing working landscapes within the region.
• SBC has identified and is working with numerous other landowners interested in exploring conservation options in the Sierra Valley.

Background on the Sierra Valley:
The Sierra Valley forms the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Feather River, one of the most important water resources in the state of California. English, Irish, Italian, and Swiss immigrants settled the valley in the 1850’s and 1860’s. Many of their descendants continue to live and work in the valley today. In the spring thousands of waterfowl and more than 200 other species of birds stop in the valleys marshes on their way to nesting grounds in the north. The valley comes alive with wildflowers and wildlife, meadowlarks, phalaropes, hawks and the sights and sounds of ranching. Since 1998 ranchers and friends of the valley have been working to maintain the history and unique culture of this gem of the Sierra Nevada.