California Agriculture

California has 34 local conservation organizations, land trusts and open space districts that seek to protect farmland through conservation easements. In an examination of their mission statements and interviews with managers, we found variations in the extent to which the same easements protect both agricultural production and natural resources. Because they frequently protect farm operations that involve intense cultivation, cropland easements tend to be seen as incompatible with natural resource purposes such as riparian areas, habitat, wetlands and recreational trails.