Mar 14, 2008

Bull ranch may go to nonprofit

Open space district would acquire

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

Someone would have to take down the entrance sign warning: "If you trespass, hope you can outrun the bull."

This spring, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District could acquire the Mindego Ranch, a 1,047-acre estate where the True family bred rodeo champion bulls before selling its land in unincorporated San Mateo County last October for $28.5 million to the Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit.

If approved by its board later this month, the district will buy the plot from the trust at a discounted price of $22.5 million, said Sandy Sommer, the district's senior real property planner, during a tour of the ranch Thursday.

To help fund the purchase, the California Coastal Conservancy may decide at its April board meeting to grant the district $7.5 million, Sommer said.

Nestled next to the district's Russian Ridge preserve, the ranch would open up vast new swaths of land for hiking and allow local residents to climb the 2,143-foot summit of Mindego Hill, the highest public peak in San Mateo County, Sommer said.

"It's like standing on the bow of a ship," said Walter Moore, the trust's executive vice president. "You can see the entire Midpeninsula region."

On a clear day, Sommer said, it's possible to see all the way to Monterey Bay.

The acquisition also would preserve the habitat of several species thriving on the ranch, including red-legged frogs, endangered snakes, pond turtles and both the steelhead trout and coho salmon that live in the San Gregorio Creek watershed, Sommer said.

And for geologists, Mindego Hill offers a visible example of plate tectonics, she said. Though long rumored to be an old volcano, she said the hill was actually formed through basaltic intrusion - the collision of oceanic and continental plates.

But for most locals, the purchase represents the chance to finally scale the summit hikers on nearby trails have long circled.

"The main feature you see from Russian Ridge is Mindego Hill," said Craig Britton, the district's general manager.

In fact, the district formerly had a prominent picture of the peak posted on its Web site before someone pointed out the hill was not actually in its domain.

Since the trust announced its purchase, vice president Anne Trela said she has been receiving e-mails from hikers excited to finally climb the peak.

"They said 'Oh, that's wonderful - I've been looking at it for years,'" she said.

Docent-led hikes around the ranch will likely begin in June, when the property is slated to transfer hands, Sommer said. The district probably will elect to maintain the 120 cattle now grazing on the land, at least for a while, she said.

Eventually, the entire plot will probably be opened up to visitors, Britton said.

"It opens up another whole section of Russian Ridge and phenomenal loop trails," Moore said. Hikers now are largely limited to the actual ridge.

The district's board of directors will vote on the acquisition at a March 25 meeting.

E-mail Kristina Peterson at kpeterson@dailynewsgroup.com.