Williamson Act cuts put California open space at risk

Owners of 20 percent of California rangeland may choose to sell their land, perhaps to developers, if they don't receive tax breaks from the Williamson Act, according to researchers in the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology. This could cause sweeping landscape change in California, pointed out Michael Krasney on Forum, a talk radio program broadcast by KQED radio.

Krasney hosted a half-hour show on the Williamson Act, basing the segment on research published in the current issue of California Agriculture journal. Lynn Huntsinger, professor of rangeland ecology and management at UC Berkeley, was a guest.

Today, 15 million acres of open space are protected because of the Williamson Act. The grasslands and oak woodlands provide the public with a variety of ecosystem services, such as beautiful, open vistas along highways and byways, wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration.