Jack and Bernice Newell Open Space
Napa County, California

The Property

The Jack and Bernice Newell Open Space is a 640-acre property donated by a long-time American Canyon resident.  At one time slated to be a city landfill, this property - with its windswept hills, bay-oak woodlands, creeks, and grassland -- is now owned and managed by the City of American Canyon, the most rapidly growing city in the county, as a public open space and is protected through a conservation easement held by the Land Trust of Napa County.  A  key raptor migration corridor runs through the property, and most days of the year one can see such raptors as golden eagles, red tail hawks, white-tailed kites, and northern harriers on the property.

The Land Trust 

The mission of the non-profit Land Trust of Napa County is "to protect the natural diversity, scenic open space and agricultural vitality of Napa County by preserving lands with significant conservation values for present and future generations and by fostering an appreciation and understanding of the natural environment."

The Easement 

This easement arose out of special circumstances, with the landowners planning to turn the property over to the City of American Canyon for use as a park and wanting to be certain that the city met their wishes.  The Land Trust of Napa COunty crafted a conservation easement that both recognizes the needs of passive recreation and, for the most part, protects the natural and scenic resources on the site.

First, the land trust and landowners created a general conservation easement donated to the land trust.  Later, the landowners donated the entire porperty to the City of American Canyon for use as passive recreation encumbered by the easement restrictions.

The property includes a substantial portion of the viewshed for the eastern backdrop of the city.  The property is also home to an important Coast Live Oak forest with many trees over 200 years old.  

There are two scenic conservation provisions in this easement.  The easement prohibits installation of new utilities and prohibits extending existing utilities except to provide utilities to any future caretaker's residence. This would, in effect, prohibit cell towers, wind turbines, and other new utilities.  In addition, the easement prohibits new construction, including construction to support recreation activities, from covering more than two percent of the property with impervious surface, including any structures, parking lots, paved trails, etc.  This provision preserves water quality and also limits the potential visual disruption of support facilities.