Conservation Easements Through Sonoma County's Ag + Open Space District

What the district is and how it's funded

In 1990, Sonoma County voters approved a dedicated quarter-cent sales tax to fund the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (commonly known as Sonoma County Ag + Open Space), an independent public agency created specifically to protect the county's farmland, ranchland, natural resources, and scenic open space from conversion to other uses. Rather than relying solely on zoning restrictions, the district's primary tool is acquiring conservation easements -- and, in some cases, fee-title ownership -- directly from willing landowners, generally in exchange for compensation reflecting the value of the development rights given up.

Over more than three decades of operation, the district has become one of the more established and successful county-level farmland conservation programs in California, working alongside widespread Williamson Act agricultural preserve enrollment across the county's vineyard and ranch land to keep large areas of Sonoma County genuinely agricultural rather than gradually subdividing into rural estates.

What this means for a landowner or buyer

If you own agricultural or scenic open land in Sonoma County and are interested in permanently protecting it while potentially generating income from selling its development rights, the Ag + Open Space District is a natural point of contact to understand whether your property might qualify for a conservation easement acquisition and what that would involve, including the effect on future property tax assessment and any restrictions the easement would place on future use.

If you're buying land that already carries a district-held conservation easement, request a copy of the easement document and review its specific terms carefully -- these vary by property and can affect everything from building envelope size and location to agricultural-use requirements and public-access provisions (though most agricultural conservation easements do not require public access). Confirm the easement's exact restrictions directly with the district before assuming any particular future use is still available.

It's also worth checking whether a target parcel sits within one of the district's identified priority conservation areas even if it doesn't yet carry an easement -- land within a priority area may be a more likely candidate for a future voluntary acquisition offer, which is relevant if generating income from a future easement sale is part of your long-term plan for the property.