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Marin History Museum signage, postcard, “Growing the Future”

The Fine Art of Marin Agriculture: Landscape and Portrait Photography by Ken SmithJanuary 23 – March 12. Monday – Friday, 1 pm – 5 pm, Saturday, 10 am – 1 pm In partnership with Falkirk Cultural Center, 1408 Mission Avenue, San Rafael Opening Reception: January 30, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Geography of Hope Conference: Celebrating Writing on Farming and Rural LifeMarch 20 – 22. Sponsored in part by MALT. For location and details go to www.malt.org

Going Green in Marin: Land, Water, Food and Sustainability Saturday, April 4, 9 am – 1 pmA panel discussion on sustainable food production in Marin, in partnership with Dominican University Angelico Hall, 50 Acacia Avenue, San Rafael. ($10 / free to students)

Historic Walking Tours, May – October, 3rd Saturday of each month, 10 am – 11:15 amGuided walking tours in San Rafael starting at the Boyd Gate House. ($5 / free to members)

Trains and Goblins in the Park! Saturday, October 17, 11 am – 4 pmThe Diablo Pacific Shortline group will run model trains in Boyd Memorial ParkWear your Halloween costume! ($1 per activity ticket / $5 activity pass)

“Growing the Future” celebrates the rich heritage of family run farms and ranches in Marin, continuing the legacy of locally produced food.

Exhibit Opening: Friday, February 13, 2009, 11 am – 4 pm Opening Events: Members Reception at Boyd Gate House, 5 pm – 7 pm; Poetry Reading and Landscape Portraits at Falkirk Cultural Center, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Exhibit Hours: 11 am – 4 pm, Tuesday – Friday plus 2nd and 3rd Saturdays of the month

School programs: 10 am – 12 pm daily. Group tours: by appointment.

“Growing the Future” is presented in the Marin History Museum’s Boyd Gate House galleries 1125 B Street, San Rafael, CA 94901 • 415/454-8538 • www.marinhistory.org

2009 Collaborative Community Programs (locations vary)

The Marin History Museum February 2009 – January 2010

Under the West Marin General Plan in 1969, the county’s farmland was destined to become 43,000 acres of suburbs with plans for beach-side recreation development and major highway extensions. In early 1971, a county official stat-ed, “by 1990, Tomales Bay will probably look like Malibu.” Remarkably, Marin’s greenbelt to the west of Highway 101 continues to be home to family run farms.

Through 185 years, Marin farmers have proven to be good problem solvers. As

they faced imminent development of their lands thirty years ago, farmers collaborated with conservationists, state and federal agen-cies, local government, and Marin residents. The creation of MALT (Marin Agricultural Land Trust) in 1980 is just one example of ranchers

and environmentalists working together to preserve local food production. Developing innovative farming practices through the part-nership of farmers and the experts at the UC Cooperative Extension is another. In addition, the National Park Service established a coop-erative system of thirty-year leases to farmers on the newly formed Point Reyes National Seashore in 1976.

Many heroes can be found in this story, and those who benefit from their efforts will

grow with each generation. When you next ask: “What should we have for dinner?” – perhaps the answer will come from your local farmers market where the intense aromas of fresh pro-duce and enticing variety of products call out for your attention.

How Did West Marin Avoid Becoming the Next Malibu, California?

Farming On the Edge

Member of the Giacomini family using a milking machine, 1959. (Marin History Museum Collection)

Members of the Gomez family from Mexico harvesting peas on the Murphy Ranch, c.1950. (Point Reyes National Seashore Archives)

Employees of Larry Jensen’s oyster farm collecting bivalves on mudflats in Drakes Estero, 1950. (Point Reyes National Seashore Archives)

Aerial view of the Marin County coast line with Muir Beach in center, 1964. (Marin History Museum-Brady Collection)

Four cowboys at Y Ranch on Drakes Bay in West Marin, c. 1940. (Seth Wood, Courtesy of Dewey Livingston)

Young Native American vaquero (cowboy), drawn by Louise Charis, 1816. (Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley)

Steven Richardson, son of William Richardson, ranchero owner of the Sausalito land grant, c. 1910. (Marin History Museum Collection)

Illustration of world-known sharpshooter, Annie Oakley, 1884. (Denver Public Library Archive)

Cowboys, Cowgirls, and Sharpshooters

Cowboys represent an independent and vivid part of Marin’s western

heritage. They drove herds of half-wild longhorns during the years of our Spanish mission, San Raphael Archangel, established in 1817. By the mid 1800s, cowboys roamed the rich grass-lands caring for Jerseys and the other English breeds of Marin’s

busy dairy ranches.

The cowboy trade dates back four hundred years to Mexico, where Spanish colonists transported

their domesticated cattle and horses. The vaqueros, or Mexican cowboys, developed expert roping and riding skills, defining what it meant to be a cowboy. Their lariat, or la reata, was their most important tool. The skills and hard working nature of cowboys from the Old West came from their naturally diverse backgrounds — as Mexican cowhands, Native Americans, and freed slaves from post civil war Texas.

Rodeos evolved as entertainment for cowboys to show off their horseback riding expertise to each other, and to the public. Women also proved their riding skills in small and large rodeos, as demonstrated by Ann Strain of Bolinas, and her nationally known peer, Annie Oakley.

Farm Fact: 50% of Marin’s land is agricultural, with about 167,000 acres operated as farms or ranches. (www.growninmarin.org)

Many ranching families in Marin would have been forced to leave, but for the important work of MALT. Founded in 1980 by a coalition of ranchers and environmentalists, MALT was the first land trust in the U.S. to focus on farm-land preservation. MALT acquires ag-ricultural conservation easements on farmland through the collaborative funding of individual donors, public funders, and private foundations. Last year, over one million acres of Ameri-can farmland was paved over or de-veloped. In Marin, however, MALT has successfully and permanently preserved 63 family farms and ranches, covering over 41,000 acres of farmland that might oth-erwise have been developed. MALT monitors these protected lands, playing a stewardship role in partnership with landowners, many of whom are 4th and 5th generation farmers and ranchers committed to sustainable local food production.

Cows grazing on Giacomini Dairy ranch land protected by a MALT agricultural conservation easement, c. 1990. (Marin Agricultural Land Trust)

Patrick Monroe Allen and Lucy Jaffar wearing MALT t-shirts at Toby’s Feed Barn in Point Reyes Station, 2008. (Paige Green, Marin Agricultural Land Trust)

Marin Agricultural Land Trust sign. (UCCE Marin)

marin agricultural Land trust (maLt)

Since the first pioneers arrived to homestead, farming has been a way of life in Marin. Its climate and topography

created an abundant landscape suited to smaller, family oper-ated farms. Rich grasslands, protected hillsides and cool ocean breezes have provided the perfect grazing for dairy farming and cattle ranching for over 185 years.

Today, agriculture continues to play a dominant role in the economic and civic character of the county. Marin is one

of just a few California counties where you can still find multi-generational, family run farms. Marin’s dairy heritage is alive and well with local milk production totaling 24.3 million gallons in 2007. The third largest farmers market in the state thrives here with 488 members. Local farmers markets provide community spaces for families to shop, neighbors to meet, and farmers to talk directly with consumers.

Marin’s Countywide Plan of 1971 demonstrated that it takes local citizens and governments, community lead-

ers, merchants, and farm families to work together to preserve Marin’s unique farmland. Today’s farmers, and the communi-ties they have built, provide a working link to our agricultural heritage. They have planted the seeds for future generations who will benefit from fresh food, grown locally – something that was once “a given,” but in today’s world is not to be taken for granted.

Farming Families of Marin Growing the Future

“If the public stays with us, agriculture will survive.”

Earl Dolicini, dairyman, Hicks Valley, from Farming On The Edge, by John Hart.