Trust for Public Land and County of Marin Celebrate Protection of Iconic Landscape – Tiburon Ridge

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Representing a momentous conservation and community milestone for Marin County, Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the County of Marin announce the protection of Tiburon Ridge, a pristine 110-acre ridgetop property with breathtaking views of the Bay Area, also known as the Martha or Easton Point Property.

The community - including local partner Tiburon Open Space- has been working to conserve the property for over 30 years.This critical acquisition will forever safeguard this iconic landscape from development, ensuring it remains a public open space for generations to come under the stewardship of Marin County Open Space District.

"We are overjoyed to take this historic step in finally protecting Tiburon Ridge. This is decades in the making and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to forever secure a cherished landscape with breathtaking 360-degree views of the San Francisco Bay Area for all to enjoy," said Guillermo Rodriguez, California State Director and Vice President-Pacific Region for Trust for Public Land."We are deeply grateful to the County of Marin and Martha Co. for their partnership. Victories like this do not come easy and if it were not for the incredible support and generosity of voters, community leaders, individual donors and Tiburon Open Space, who rallied together to protect this special place, this historic outcome would not have been possible."

"It is an honor to be stewards of such a remarkable landscape and to contribute to securing its protection for future generations," said Max Korten, Director and General Manager of Marin County Parks and Open Space."Marin County Parks is grateful to work alongside our community and stakeholders to foster a shared sense of stewardship and expand accessible, sustainable recreation opportunities for everyone to enjoy."

"Martha Co. and our Reed family ancestors have been stewards of the Easton Point property in Tiburon for more than 100 years," said the Reed Family."We are incredibly pleased the community seized the 'once in a lifetime' opportunity our family created with the Trust for Public Land to acquire this unique property for open space at a price below fair value. We deeply appreciate the Trust for Public Land's leadership and congratulate the County Open Space District on the acquisition of our land."

"After over 35 years of community involvement and hard work this is a great success for everyone forever," said Jerry Riessen, President, Tiburon Open Space.

The successful protection of this vista and landscape, will also connect and expand the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve and the Tiburon Uplands Preserve, creating an unparalleled expanse of open space that will enhance recreational access, climate resilience, wildlife corridors, and scenic beauty in the region.

The protection of this property represented the last chance to save this land from the construction of 43 large homes, which would have forever altered the character and natural beauty of the Tiburon Peninsula.

The vision for Tiburon Ridge now includes enhancing recreational access, completing trail connections, and expanding habitat for rare species such as the California red-legged frog, serpentine reed grass, and Marin dwarf flax. In 2022, TPL executed a two-year option to purchase the property from Martha Co. for over $42 million with intent to then transfer the property to Marin County Open Space District to own and steward as a public preserve. In that time, Tiburon and Belvedere voters overwhelmingly approved Measure M to finance a $23 million bond to help purchase the property.

"Tiburon Ridge is an incredible property, and the opportunity to permanently protect a location like this does not come along very often,"said Dan Winterson, who manages the Conservation Portfolio at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation."TPL did an amazing job of seeing this complicated transaction through to completion."

The decades-long effort to protect Tiburon Ridge has been a community-driven public-private partnership, with TPL working alongside local and state agencies, including Tiburon Open Space, Marin County Parks and Open Space District, Town of Tiburon, City of Belvedere, California Wildlife Conservation Board, California Natural Resources Agency, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Belvedere Community Foundation, Tiburon Peninsula Foundation, and over 400 individual donors and volunteers who provided the energy and resources necessary to bring this historic effort to a successful close.

"At a time when there is pressure to urbanize our informal open spaces into parks with built amenities, the 30 years of community work to preserve the spectacular Martha property as open space results in recreation alternatives and so much more," said Tiburon Mayor Alice Fredericks.It is a rededication by our community to preservation of natural resources, reminding us to lighten our footprint on this earth and remember the greater systems that we can sustain, so they can continue to sustain us."

"We would like to congratulate the Trust for Public Land, the County of Marin, and Tiburon Open Space for securing Tiburon Ridge for generations to come," said Belvedere Mayor Peter Mark."This new expanse will become an invaluable recreational asset to the community."

A ribbon-cutting event will be held on the property on Saturday, October 26, 2024. Shuttle buses will be provided by Marin County Open Space District. See Eventspagefor details.

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About Trust for Public Land 

Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,364 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, raised $94 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 9.4 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org

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