Home > Your Region > Sonoma-Napa > Campaigns > Napa Open Space District

Napa Open Space District

We won!

The initiative to establish an Open Space District in Napa County – Measure I – passed in the November election. The new district will be able to protect watershed lands, open more land for families to enjoy, and create more safe places for children to play.

Measure I has created the agency; further planning will need to go into its structure and funding.

What's At Stake

Until the passage of Measure I, many people were surprised to realize that Napa County – a place that is world-famous for its vineyards, farmland, and scenic landscapes – was the only county in the Bay Area with no park district or county parks department.

There are over 120,000 acres of public land in Napa County, but without an open space district to manage these lands, the County cannot open them to the public. This limits opportunities for walking, hiking, biking, fishing, and picnicking in natural areas. It also means that local watersheds – the lands that collect and purify the county's drinking water – are less well protected than they should be.

Because of its lack of a district, Napa County has been missing out on millions of dollars in grant funds that are awarded to open space districts throughout California. For example, using Sonoma County as a comparison, if Napa County had an open space district, it could have received $1.7 million over the last six years in grants from the Bay Area Conservancy Program (administered by the Coastal Conservancy).

The passage of Measure I is a crucial step toward providing Napa residents with a new Open Space District.

Campaign Update

November 2006
Napa County has made a giant step forward in their efforts to protect and provide public access to the beautiful natural areas that make Napa Valley extraordinary. The passage of the Napa County Parks and Open Space District marks the beginning of a new era for Napa County. The District will have oversight from five volunteer District Directors: Guy Kay, Harold Kelly, Myrna Abramowitz, Dave Finigan and Tony Norris. Many of the new Directors are veterans in the political arena and long time advocates for open space protection. After thirty years of talking about a Parks and Open Space District – the County can now move on to implementation.

October 2006
The grassroots part of the campaign to establish an Open Space District in Napa County is charging ahead with four phone banks each week. Almost every City Councilperson in the County is behind the measure, plus the majority of the Supervisors. The Land Trust is working hard on the initiative, because the Open Space District will provide a partner in preserving and providing public access to land in Napa County.