California Rangeland Trust Fills Critical Bay Area Position to Meet Growing Conservation Demand

SAN FRANCISCO, July 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The California Rangeland Trust has hired Tina Batt, Walnut Creek, as their new Bay Area Program Manager to facilitate conservation and mitigation easements and related projects on working ranches in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

In this position, supported by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund and other private foundations, Tina will negotiate easement transactions and serve as the California Rangeland Trust’s principal staff liaison with interested landowners, conservation partners, funders, and elected officials in the eight Bay Area counties.

California Rangeland Trust work to protect the more than 1.7 million acres of working cattle ranches still remaining in the Bay Area will provide for cleaner air and water, enhance the sustainability of local food producers, and preserve habitats for endangered species including the kit fox, tiger salamander, foothill yellow-legged frog, Alameda whipsnake, garter snake, burrowing owls, and fairy shrimp.

“The Rangeland Trust is very focused on conservation in the Bay Area. Hiring Tina is recognition of our commitment to this effort which also aligns with the Upland Habitat Program goals of protecting the many species and natural resources which rely on private rangelands,” said Darrel Sweet, a California Rangeland Trust Board member from Livermore.

Tina has been involved with land conservation and stewardship in the Bay Area since 1987, having served as founder and Executive Director of the Muir Heritage Land Trust in Contra Costa County for eighteen years. During that time, she was responsible for negotiating all land conservation, stewardship, and restoration projects, which included the preservation of over 2,000 acres of rangeland.

“I am thrilled to be working for such a well-run organization with a proven track record of on-the-ground conservation work,” said Tina. “This focused effort in the Bay Area provides incredible opportunities to make local partnerships with other organizations working to conserve natural resources in the Bay Area.”

The California Rangeland Trust is dedicated to conserving the open space, natural habitat and stewardship provided by California’s ranches, and uses conservation easements to forever protect these rangelands from development and other pressures. Today, California Rangeland Trust holds easements on over 186,000 acres of rangeland on thirty ranches, ensuring that these working landscapes will be forever protected.

SOURCE California Rangeland Trust