1980s
Agriculture in the spotlight as land protection picks up steam
As development pressure mounted, Sonoma Land Trust stepped in as an early champion for farmers, pioneering protection tools and creating policies that kept working lands in production and protected Sonoma County’s bucolic character.
In response to development pressures across the county and state, SLT sponsored the first Farmlands Conference to share advantages of new conservation easement policy with the agricultural community.
Reta Lockert was SLT’s first employee, hired at 10 hours a week when the organization was still a small volunteer effort with no formal office.
The State Coastal Commission’s first grant to SLT was an investment in a pilot project that would become a well-known and influential restoration effort spanning thousands of acres.
Created in partnership with the American Farmland Trust, this foundational document helped advance agricultural conservation nationwide.
A key milestone in connecting people and communities with nature, the first guided outings took place on protected lands, and were hosted by Bill Kortum, Sue Smith, Ken Stocking, and others.
SLT’s first office, a 350-square-foot room in a building on Broadway in the town of Sonoma.
Charles Laufenburg purchased this property on the Sonoma County border, near Calistoga, in 1887. His son Charlie, born on the property, maintained it as a working ranch. He lived 90 years on the property.
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