Throughout its history, vintners in the Napa Valley have set the highest standard of land use and management designed to preserve the valley’s agricultural heritage and way of life.
Building on their history of sustainability, vintners continue to demonstrate environmental leadership through programs such as Napa Green Land and Napa Green Winery.
Napa Valley’s environmental leadership story began in 1968, when vintners and others in the community had the forethought to preserve open space and prevent future over-development by enacting the nation’s first Agriculture Preserve. This land-zoning ordinance established agriculture and open space as the best use for the land in the fertile valley and foothill areas of Napa County.
Initially, the ordinance protected 23,000 acres of agricultural land stretching from Napa in the south to Calistoga. Today, more than 38,000 acres are contained within the Preserve.
Understanding the importance of keeping rural lands rural, the Land Trust of Napa County was established in 1976, creating conservation easements for land owners to preserve and protect their land in perpetuity from development.
Today, roughly 10% of Napa — more than 53,000 acres — is protected.