Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve Exhibition at Napa Valley College Celebrates 54 Years of Stewardship
Volker Eisele
Napa Valley College will host the exhibition “Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve,” opening Monday, August 8 and running through Saturday, October 15, 2022.
The multimedia exhibit, which will be on view in the Napa Valley College McCarthy Library lobby, showcases the 54-year history of Napa Valley’s Agricultural Preserve and provides information about its key players, why and how it was initiated, the major challenges and successes of the last 50 years and a view into its future priorities and anticipated challenges. The exhibition will be on view weekdays (except holidays) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The “Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve” exhibition is presented with the support of the Jack L. Davies Napa Valley Agricultural Land Preservation Fund and was originally created in partnership with the Napa Valley Museum. The new installation of the Ag Preserve Exhibit at Napa Valley College celebrates the establishment of the Volker Eisele Scholarship. The scholarship, which honors the legacy of long-time Napa Valley land protection advocate and vintner Volker Eisele, will provide annual scholarships through the Napa Valley College Foundation to students pursuing agricultural studies at Napa Valley College. The scholarships will be awarded by the at Napa Valley College’s scholarship ceremony each year.
Created in April 1968, the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve became America’s first agricultural preserve and is one of the primary reasons the Napa Valley became a premier preserved world-famous wine-growing region and will remain so for generations to come. For more than 54 years, hundreds of winegrowers, vintners, local leaders and residents have worked to protect and preserve the natural beauty and agricultural profile of the Napa Valley with the creation and continued support of the Ag Preserve.
In the mid-1960s, local leaders and voters overcame initial dissent to prioritize agriculture as the best use of Napa County land. The landmark ruling was passed by the Napa County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors in 1968. From there, the new statute inspired a succession of other progressive land-use policies to protect local farmlands from encroaching development. Today, 31,609 acres of Napa Valley Ag Preserve farmlands are protected from urbanization until at least the year 2058. For additional information on the Ag Preserve, visit www.napaagpreserve.org.
The Napa Valley College McCarthy Library is located in the 1700 building at 2277 Napa-Vallejo Highway in Napa.
About Jack L. Davies Napa Valley Agricultural Land Preservation Fund
In 2003, recognizing their mutual commitment to preserving the agricultural lands and heritage that are fundamental to Napa County’s rural character, the Jack L. Davies Agricultural Land Preservation Fund, the Napa Valley Foundation and the Napa Valley Agricultural Land Preservation Fund united to establish The Jack L. Davies Napa Valley Agricultural Land Preservation Fund. In 2022, the Fund created the Volker Eisele Scholarship, named in honor of vintner and former JLD Ag Fund board member Volker Eisele, who passed away in 2015. Guided by a volunteer board of directors, the JLD Ag Fund operates under the premise that only an educated electorate can protect the integrity of the land. It is dedicated to a mission of preserving, protecting and promoting agricultural land in Napa County.
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