Hearst Ranch
Conservation Values

View of Hearst Ranch from San Simeon Point

Overview:

In any conservation project besides reducing the development potential there are three main issue being addressed.

• Biological Component: The 128 square mile (82,000 acre) Hearst Ranch has a enormous and diverse biological component which includes wildlife and plant habitat, and watersheds all contributing to the conservation values of the Ranch. The biological diversity of the Ranch is due to the Hearst Corporation being good stewards of the land and taking the steps necessary to keep it intact as a working unit and recognizing the value of the ranch as a ecosystem.

• Agricultural Component: Though mainly a working cattle ranch with a long history dating back to 1865. There is currently some intensified agricultural being conducted on the ranch. This intensified agriculture is expected to continue helping the ranch to remain viable. To support the Ranch's operation there are several buildings, barns, employee residences, and out buildings.

• Public Component: This can be very controversial in many conservation projects. How do you allow the public to enjoy what they have preserved while preserving what they love.

The key to a good conservation project is to strike a balance between all these issues protecting the conservation values while allowing enough flexibility in the Ranch's operation to maintain it as a working ranch and provide public the opportunity to enjoy what they have preserved. It not necessary for all these issues to conflict with each other, rather they can be used to compliment each other if crafted properly.

Standards for Conservation Easements:

To set a standard for conservation projects, the Land Trust Alliance (LTA) has published a set of Standard and Practices for which conservation projects should follow. The American Land Conservancy as a national land trust has adopted these guidelines as a standard course of operation.

The Land Trust Alliance has also published Working Ranchland Conservation Easements, designed to give land trusts and land conservationists sound ideas to incorporate into their efforts to protect ranchlands from inappropriate development.

By using these standards, new ideas, and their experience, we believe the American Land Conservancy (ALC) and the Hearst Corporation will craft a conservation project that meets the criteria for a good conservation project balancing the needs of the public, working ranch, and biological habitat.

An example of a working ranch that has been completed is the 34,000-acre Varian Ranch, which was spearheaded by the Trust for Public Lands. This project was funded by Caltrans, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) and the Packard Foundation. The the conservation easement has been transferred to the California Rangeland Trust who will monitor compliance with the easement and work with the Varian family to identify private and government programs offering support for weed management, livestock productivity and wildlife habitat improvements

Current Status:

Based on the information we have gathered the Hearst Ranch Project will be split up into two regions, lands west of Highway 1 and lands east of Highway 1.

Lands West of Highway 1

The area west of Highway 1 is approximately 1840 acres in size stretching over 18 miles from south of San Simeon Acres all the way to San Carpoforo Creek.

Based on the information we have gathered, it was a very difficult job to strike a balance between the needs and desires of the public, the landowner and the State Agencies. In that light The Nature Conservancy and American Land Conservancy held meetings and met with individuals, Groups and State agencies to get all the information on the table.

Below are some of the ideas presented:

Public

• Allow for the creation of a California Coastal Trail
• No Development on San Simeon Point, or anywhere else along the west side of Highway 1
• No new campgrounds or other major facilities west of Highway 1, except maybe at Old San Simeon Village, or San Simeon Acres
• Increased and irrevocable public access to San Simeon Point.
• Leave as much of the coast as it currently is protecting the habitat, scenic viewshed and historical values we currently enjoy.

Land Owner

• Retain historical and family owned traditional areas of the Hearst Ranch
• Difficult to sell or donate any lands at all
• Allow limited historically consistent development at old San Simeon Village
• Protect viewshed, habitat and character of landscape west of Highway 1
• Maintain historical cattle ranch operation
• Allow for California Coastal Trail

State Agencies

• Allow for California Coastal Trail
• Increase visitor serving services, visitor center, lodging, and possibly new campground
• Increase public access along the coast
• Possibly more vista sites and parking areas
• Protect viewshed, habitat and character of landscape west of Highway 1
• Independent control of all lands west of highway 1
  

With this in mind, of the 1840 acres 1120 acres are expected to be transferred or sold to the State in fee title as reported by the Tribune, May 23, 2003, according to Stephen Hearst.

Note: With the involvement Caltrans the amount lands to be transferred to a State Agency will be increased by as much as 500-acres. This is because the Hearst Corporation must donate lands as a match to the grant. The final acreage transferred will vary as the negotiations, with the State and alignment of Highway 1 are finalized.

Lands Transferred to the State or other Agency

At present, because of Caltrans involvement 14 - 15 miles of the California Coast, covering between 1120 - 1600 acres, will be transferred in Fee Title to the State of California as part of the project. This will include:

• The land north of Piedras Blancas Lighthouse to the area south of Ragged Point, including Point Sierra Nevada, including the mouth of Arroyo de la Cruz and miles of beautiful sandy beaches.

• Excluding the Piedras Blancas Motel (also known as Cappuccino Cove), which is owned by a third party.

• The 18.7-acre Piedras Blancas Lighthouse property itself has always been in public ownership, but was recently transferred to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is undergoing restoration at this time. (Photos)

• The land south of Piedras Blancas Lighthouse to just north of San Simeon Point, including:

  • The elephant seal viewing area and rookery
  • The vista points and coastal bluffs now enjoyed by the public
  • Arroyo Laguna the renowned wind and kite surfing beach,
  • The beaches and bluffs extending 1/2 mile south of Arroyo de Laguna

Photos at Arroyo Laguna Beach

• The land south of the existing William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach to just north of San Simeon Acres The land south of San Simeon Acres almost to San Simeon State Park just north of Cambria

• Beaches along the Coast: As a result of this transaction, the public will now own 30 more beaches along the spectacular California Coast, including San Carpoforo, Pt. Sierra Nevada, Arroyo de la Cruz, Arroyo del Corral, Piedras Blancas Beaches, the elephant seal colony beaches, the renowned wind and kite surfing beach Arroyo Laguna and Little Pico Creek Beach. Hearst will retain ownership of of one beach just south of ragged point. However this does not include any part of the beach that is reached by the mean high tide.
  
  Note: All theses beaches whether held by the State or retained by Hearst will have some type of public access as condition of the conservation easement.

• West These beaches will be managed by California State Parks. including San Carpoforo, Pt. Sierra Nevada, Arroyo de la Cruz, Arroyo del Corral, Piedras Blancas Beaches, the elephant seal colony beaches, the renowned wind and kite surfing beach Arroyo Laguna and Little Pico Creek Beach . All theses beaches whether held by the State or retained by Hearst will have some type of public access as condition of the conservation easement.
  
  Note: Now that the $23 million Caltrans Grant has been approved there will be much greater flexibility in the alignment of the "California Coastal Trail" as Highway 1 may be moved further inland allowing for a much more natural route away from the vehicles traveling Highway 1.

• Because Highway 1 has been classified as "All American Road", the highest scenic classification a roadway can receive. Caltrans has committed to keep the roadway as two lanes.

Steve Price, Caltrans Deputy District Director said
" Because this All American Road is in the coastal zone and has the kind of significance it has"
Price said, "there are no plans to do anything out there but keep it a two-lane road."

Printed in the Telegram Tribune, March 26, 2004

• California Coastal Trail: At the completion of the project there will be a corridor defined for an 18-mile section of the California Coastal Trail stretching from San Carpoforo Beach on the north to just north of Cambria. Looking at the coastline itself, 14 - 15 miles of the 18-mile coastline would be transferred to the State of California as part of the project.

• Trail Alignment: The alignment of the California Coastal Trail on the State Property will be dependent on an overall management plan for the trail protecting the sensitive resources on the West Side of Highway 1. For the lands retained by the Hearst Corporation a corridor has been defined for remainder of the Coastal Trail

• West Side Management:. All the lands west of Highway 1 will be managed by California State Parks. San Simeon Point, Pico Point and Ragged Point will have a joint management agreement with the Hearsts.

• The access west of Highway will be held in perpetuity and cannot be revoked, including access for Ragged Point, San Simeon Point and Pico Point.

• As stated in the Sacramento Bee, the traditional trespass that has occurred over the years will still be tolerated, unless the lands retained by the Hearsts is misused or damaged by the public.

• West Side Access Comparison shows increased access to the general public: To help better explain the increased access for the general public, we have prepared two maps showing the before and after access on the West Side. Click on the links below for a comparison.

West Side Access Comparison Map (Southern Section) (60 KB)
West Side Access Comparison Map (Northern Section) (50KB)
Hearst Ranch West Side Access Comparison - Complete document and maps showing access is actually increased, not decreased as some believe.

• All properties retained by the Hearst Corporation will have a conservation easement placed on them precluding any additional development.

• Most of the coastal area that people think of as "The Gateway to Big Sur."

Lands Retained by Hearst Corporation

The Hearst Corporation at present will hold onto the remaining 719 acres. These lands are:

• 239 acres just south of San Carpoforo Creek, near Ragged Point

• 15 acres at Pico Point, adjacent to San Simeon Acres

• 426 acres on San Simeon Point

• 39 acres at Old San Simeon Village (OSSV)

The Hearst Corporation has agreed to place a conservation easement on all these properties, prohibiting any development including golf courses or other development (except the historical Julia Morgan vision of development at Old San Simeon Village), and allowing for public access to San Simeon Point and construction of an 18 mile section of the California Coastal Trail. There will also be additional language protecting the conservation values on these properties in perpetuity.

Note: On May 5, 2004 at the SLOCOG Hearing we were informed by Steve Price at Caltrans that the agreement will be held by a public agency as required by Caltrans and must be held in perpetuity.

Land East of Highway 1

The land east of Highway 1 is approximately 80,000 acres in size encompassing 125 square miles. Except for allowing the development of 27 homesites 5 acres in size and a 20-acre buffer zone the rest of the Ranch will maintained as a working ranch and will be subject to a conservation easement protecting the Ranch. There will also be a strong method for monitoring and enforcing the conservation easement to make sure it is adhered to.

Conservation Easement

• These lands will be protected by a detailed conservation easement: which will include the following:

• It will be consistent with the Conservation Framework, which will govern the use of the ranch in perpetuity.

• It will include legally enforceable provisions to ensure permanent protection of the entire ranch and its conservation values.

• As with many other successful conservation easements, a detailed agricultural management plan will be prepared with requirements for regular monitoring and enforcement, if needed.

• New Owner Homsites: The easement will contain detailed criteria for locating the 27 environmentally sensitive owner home sites. Each homesite will be placed within a 5-acre building envelope with a 20-acre buffer zone that would recognize sensitive environmental and cultural resource areas, respect existing public views from Highway 1 and Hearst Castle, located near existing roads within the interior of the ranch. It will also include habitat protections, maximum slope protections, wetland and stream setbacks and archaeological protections. In addition, the remainder of the ranch including 20-acre buffer zones will subject to the conservation easement protecting the entire ranch forever.

• There will be no bed & breakfast's, wineries or wine tasting rooms, etc.

• Agricultural Crop Usage: Current agricultural zoning allows for unlimited cropland intensification with no land use permitting requirements. Under the easement out of the 10,000 acres traditionally used for cropland intensification only 3000 acres can be used for this purpose.

• Other Agricultural Crop Limitations

  • Grapes/Vineyard production limited to 300 acres maximum and must be outside the viewshed of Highway 1.
  • Orchards limited to 300 acres maximum and must be outside the viewshed of Highway 1.
  • Intensified agricultural areas includes the 27 Owner homesite, any lands retained by Hearst on the West Side of the Highway
  • Irrigated Pastures and Dry land Farming where the land is tilled is considered intensified cropland
  • Protections from streams and sensitive habitat.

  • Any irrigated pastures that may be allowed west of highway are also included in the 3000 acres

• The easement is binding in perpetuity and cannot be renegotiated to allow additional development. In addition, if any part of or all of the Hearst Ranch is bought, sold or transferred to another owner the easement will remain intact as it goes with the land and not the owner of the property.

• The easement will be held and monitored by the California Rangeland Trust.

• The easement must also be approved by the funding agencies and organizations.

• East Side Access: East Side access is limited to 4 Non-profit events during the year (Not revocable) and by permission of the landowner. However, according to the conservation easement it specifically mentions the possibility of allowing access to the ranch at a later date. It also does not preclude access with the permission of Hearst.

  Section 14.e east side conservation.

  (e) the right to grant additional conservation easement rights over the Easement Area, including rights of public access; provided, that (i) such additional conservation easement rights shall not conflict with any of Grantee’s rights under this Conservation Easement; (ii) such additional conservation easement rights shall not allow any uses of the Easement Area that will impair Conservation Values; (iii) Grantor shall notify Grantee in writing at least ninety (90) days in advance of any proposed new grant of conservation easement over any portion of the Easement Area, which notice shall include the proposed grant of conservation easement; and (iv) no new grant of conservation easement shall result in Grantee’s having to bear any additional obligation or cost under this Conservation Easement; and
  

Setting a Baseline for the Conservation Easement(s)

To make any conservation easement or other agreement worthwhile, information needs to be gathered about the land being protected to set a standard for measurement and monitoring. This is called a baseline report. The baseline report documents the condition of the property when the conservation easement is placed on the property, or when the land has been transferred in fee title to an agency such as California State Parks, California Fish and Game, or other agency or organization.

Types of resource information gathered are:

• botany
• wildlife
• fisheries
• water resources
• cultural
• grazing management
• Scenic

This information is gathered in many ways including research, on foot, and aerial mapping.

When the information has been gathered it is put into a baseline report which is then used to help monitor and enforce the conservation easement.

Current Status:

• The Hearst Corporation has retained a range manager consultant. During the past two years, he and others have mapped most the resources of the Ranch, including soil types, wells, potential uses to keep the ranch viable, critical habitat, where invasive species are located, plant communities, ecosystems, water ways, wildlife, etc. This information along with the baseline reports and inventories performed by ALC, the State of California, and Hearst will be used to complete a comprehensive report on the Ranch. This information will be used to create a conservation easement that protects the habitat and yet allows Hearst to maintain this as a working Ranch.

• Hearst and ALC have committed to allow Independent experts to document the current conditions of the ranch. This information will be incorporated into a report to be used by the easement holder to monitor compliance with the easement terms, including protection of the conservation values. The areas of expertise include botany, wildlife, fisheries, water resources, cultural, and grazing management.

• The independent experts will also verify that the retained owner homesites meet siting criteria, though additional review will be required when any permits are requested. The baseline inventory will also include state-of-the-art aerial photography that can be updated periodically to assist in monitoring easement compliance.

• Baseline Acceptance: As required by the funding process, the State of California must review and approve the baseline report prior to any funding being released for the project. This will include on site verifications as necessary to verify the reports accuracy (WCB Grant Agreement Detail 3B, Section 2.2). In addition, the Department of Fish and Game(DFG) must also approve the report as a condition of the WCB Motion approved on August 12, 2004...

  Note: Due to the nature of the sensitive information and the detail of the baseline report. The report is not released to the general public to protect land's sensitive resources and infrastructure. However, they have released an environmental assessment for the Ranch. Click on the links below to view these documents.

http://www.resources.ca.gov/hearst_ranch_docs_toc.html

OTHER DOCUMENTS............................................................................. 5

RESOURCES INFORMATION SUMMARY.(3.04 MB)............................ ..........5A

WEST SIDE PUBLIC LANDS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.(3.40MB)...5B


• It is important that all funding agencies, businesses, and organizations performing the analysis of the Ranch for the baseline report have the necessary access required to either verify, or gather information about the Ranch. If this access is not granted it makes it hard for the funding agencies or organizations to make a valid assessment of the resources, and can also affect the appraisal process.

Management Plan: The baseline report and other information gathered will be used to create a management plan for the Hearst Ranch. This plan will protect the resources of the Ranch, yet allow the ranch to continue as a working ranch maintaining a tradition of over 135 years.

It should be noted that a management plan is a tool on how to protect the conservation values of the Ranch, not the what to protect. The plan must be flexible and allowed to change as conditions dictate to best protect the conservation values and agricultural operation of the ranch and must be flexible

Are Conservation Easement Really Forever?

As defined by the Internal Revenue Service Code (IRS) and California Civil Code 815 a conservation easement must be held in perpetuity. In addition, because State funds are being used that will also render them permanent.

As an example, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) has strict requirements on what is required in a Conservation Easement if funds are used from this agency. To view these requirements <Click Here>

In today's world a conservation easement is the best and strongest method for protecting public or private lands in perpetuity.

Monitoring and Enforcement of Conservation Values

Monitoring and enforcement are probably the most important part of a conservation easement, or property transferred in Fee Title to an government agency or other organization. Without this the values we have worked so hard to protect and preserve are open to exploitation by the landowner, government agency, or organization holding title to the property.

The State of California has strict requirements for the monitoring and enforcement of conservation easements. The State also requires that the necessary funds be in place for monitoring and enforcement of the easement.

The State routinely enters into a grant agreement with the easement holder requiring the easement holder fulfill its monitoring and enforcement obligations. If it doesn't’t the state has a right to force repayment of the grant or relinquishment of the easement to another easement holder as provided for in the easement.

As outlined in the conservation easement, the California Rangeland Trust must provide a copy of the yearly monitoring report to the Wildlife Conservation Board for there review and a summary of the report less confidential information must be made available for public review.

Audit Policy: As part of the monitoring process the California Rangeland Trust has come up with a new Audit Policy which allows direct participation of the State Agencies during monitoring of the Ranch

Monitoring and Enforcement Funds: The California Rangeland trusted stated at the July 15th, 2004 meeting that they would not enter into the agreement if they did not have a non-decreasing endowment of sufficient funds to carrying out the monitoring and enforcement of the conservation easement. Also the WCB and DFG must approve the Monitoring Protocol as a condition of the WCB Motion approved on August 12, 2004.

Note: We continue to gather information at present and will update the site when it becomes available. Come back for further updates on what we have found.

View of San Simeon Point

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We urge you to gather information from this web site and other sources and decide for yourself whether preserving this extraordinary piece of California is important. If you decide it is, please join our effort to support this project and preserve the Hearst Ranch. If you have questions we will try to answer them if we can.

To join the effort to preserve the Hearst Ranch
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To ask questions or make comments
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