Yuba County plot will stay farmland forever

By Eve Hightower
Appeal-Democrat

Jon Messick owns 30 acres he can't do much with, and it's got him grinning.
The fifth-generation Mid-Valley farmer bought the Hallwood land years ago, figuring he'd put houses on it because it's hardly worth farming and was zoned rural residential. Then he changed his mind.

Messick has promised to work the soil now that he has sold much of the sand that used to make it tough to farm.
On the original 60-acre piece of land, he has planted about half of it with walnuts, dug a pond for wildlife habitat, and put it in a conservation easement with Middle Mountain Foundation. He plans to put houses on the other 30 acres.

After reading about agricultural easements, Messick decided he would only build on half of the land. The rest will never be built on.

The foundation, a Mid-Valley-based land trust, now owns the development rights to the 30 acres covered with young walnut trees outside of Marysville on Walnut Avenue. From now, the foundation will ensure Messick's land is forever farmed regardless of who owns it.

“It's just something I wanted to do,” he said.

Easements protect agricultural land by separating the right to build on the property from other rights of ownership. The landowner who gives up development rights still owns and manages the land. He or she can receive state and federal tax advantages for having donated the conservation easement.

Plus, by doing this, the landowner preserves a valuable resource - open space, said Middle Mountain Foundation President Babs Cotter.

The land trust that holds the development rights is responsible for ensuring the owner complies with the terms of the easement and to enforce the terms if a violation occurs.

“We had some hangups because it was the first project to preserve ag land in Yuba County,” Messick said.

For the most part, it's been a cinch.

Middle Mountain Foundation folks figure there is plenty more land around that ought to be preserved.

They are working on other agricultural easements in the Mid-Valley, including an almond orchard north of the Sutter Buttes, said Mike Darnell, the foundation's executive director.

Appeal reporter Eve Hightower can be reached at 749-4724 or ehightower@appeal-democrat.com.