Land Exchange Saves Ranch
A celebration was held Saturday to mark the end of a 6-year effort to protect a 1,031-acre ranch at the scenic northern gateway to Mono Lake from development.
Officials from the Trust for Public Land, Mono County and the Bureau of Land Management joined local residents in hailing the purchase of the Conway Ranch, 3 miles north of the lake.
In 1998, the trust purchased the ranch to block a controversial 440-unit commercial and residential development approved for the site.
Earlier this year, the trust conveyed 811 acres to Mono County and 220 acres to the bureau for permanent public ownership. The ranch is along the Sierra east of Yosemite National Park.
The complex transaction involved a land exchange with the land bureau and the use of federal grants earmarked for preservation of scenic areas and wildlife habitat.
Its purchase will ensure public control of the water rights and their use for local wetlands and streams, as well as for fish-rearing crucial to Mono County’s tourist economy.
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