PROFESSOR VALLEY RANCH

Professor Valley Ranch has protected its irrigated agricultural land including a pistachio orchard and other fruit and nut trees as well as natural shrubland, and riparian habitat along Professor Creek and irrigation canals. The open land of the Property forms a substantial part of the remarkable viewscape from the Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway (State Highway 128). The green field and trees provide a sense of the agricultural traditions of early settlement as well as preserving attractive open space. Irrigated crops and adjacent areas on Professor Valley Ranch also provides resources for wildlife, including both large and small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. Current management of the hayfields on the Professor Valley Ranch preserves many natural values. For example, no herbicides have been used for the past four years and the landowner knowingly shares irrigated resources with wildlife including mule deer that nightly move onto the hayfields. The Conservation Easement helps to ensure that management of the Ranch in the future will agree with the desires of the current, conservation-minded landowners.