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SCR-126 50th Anniversary of the Napa County Agricultural Preserve.(2017-2018)

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SCR126:v96#DOCUMENT

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 126
CHAPTER 62

Relative to the 50th Anniversary of the Napa County Agricultural Preserve.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  May 08, 2018. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SCR 126, Dodd. 50th Anniversary of the Napa County Agricultural Preserve.
This measure would recognize 2018 as the milestone 50th Anniversary of the Napa County Agricultural Preserve, and further recognize the critical part the hundreds of growers, vintners, local leaders, and members of the Napa community play to preserve the beauty and splendor of the valley and its agricultural industries, for this and future generations.
Fiscal Committee: NO  

WHEREAS, The County of Napa’s farmers and rich soils have produced a bountiful array of crops, livestock, and agricultural products for centuries; and
WHEREAS, The County of Napa’s exceptional climate and topography produce world-class winegrapes, wines, and other outstanding agricultural products; and
WHEREAS, Despite pressures for development over the years, agriculture has remained at the heart of the region’s economic and cultural life; and
WHEREAS, As farmland across California was rapidly disappearing, as supplanted by commercial developments, the County of Napa recognized the importance of preventing urban sprawl by protecting its irreplaceable agricultural lands; and
WHEREAS, On April 9, 1968, the Napa County Board of Supervisors voted to create the Napa County Agricultural Preserve (hereafter the preserve); and
WHEREAS, The creation of the preserve was groundbreaking and marked the first such preserve in the nation, and led to related land-use policies to protect the County of Napa’s farmland, prioritizing agriculture as the highest and best use of prime agricultural land; and
WHEREAS, The preserve protects 31,609 acres of farmlands, and tens of thousands of additional acres of land are shielded from future development through conservation easements voluntarily entered into by property owners or protected through agricultural, watershed, and open-space zoning, which, combined with the preserve, encompasses over 90 percent of the county’s total acreage; and
WHEREAS, In addition to protecting the County of Napa’s agricultural land, the preserve enables and fosters cutting-edge sustainability efforts, the charitable leadership of the agricultural industry, and innovative farmworker housing programs; and
WHEREAS, These efforts have been supported and made possible in large part because of the leadership of the County of Napa, Napa County Farm Bureau, Napa County Resource Conservation District, Napa Valley Grapegrowers, Napa Valley Vintners, and Winegrowers of Napa County; and
WHEREAS, The County of Napa continues to maintain its commitment to agriculture and the maintaining of its preserve, stating clearly in its general plan: “Napa County in 2030 will remain a world-famous grape growing and winemaking region, with a viable and sustainable agricultural industry”; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes 2018 as the milestone 50th Anniversary of the Napa County Agricultural Preserve, and further recognizes the critical part the hundreds of growers, vintners, local leaders, and members of the Napa community play to preserve the beauty and splendor of the valley and its agricultural industries, for this and future generations; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.