Bringing Back Monarchs One Ranch at a Time

Matt Dolkas - MALT

By Matt Dolkas, Senior Manager, Marketing

September 25, 2023

When he was growing up in the coastal California village of Bolinas in the 1980s, Ole Schell remembers, the monarchs that returned each fall to their overwintering sites seemed “endless.” They clustered in the eucalyptus and pine groves around town, sometimes in swarms so big that—Schell now recalls with embarrassment—he and his friends would shake the butterflies from the branches and watch them fly off by the hundreds.

More stories like this:

View of Tunnel Hill Ranch in Tomales.

Marin County Approves Funding to Protect Tunnel Hill Ranch in Tomales

April 7, 2026

The Marin County Board of Supervisors voted today to approve a grant through the county’s Measure A Farmland Preservation Grant Program to help permanently protect the 110-acre Tunnel Hill Ranch in Tomales. The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) will use this grant, combined with private donations, to purchase a $1.1 million agricultural conservation easement on…

Read More

Jennifer Beretta at the Dolcini Jersey Dairy, Marin County.

Jennifer Beretta: What It Takes To Keep A Dairy Thriving

February 25, 2026

Jennifer Beretta can’t always remember her phone number, but she remembers cow numbers from 15 years ago. That kind of commitment—to heritage, to family, to land—is what keeps agriculture thriving in Marin County.

Read More

Moira Kuhn of Marin Roots Farm stands beside a weathered Kubota tractor in a field at the MALT-protected Volpi Ranch in Marin County.

Moira Kuhn: Building a Farm on Borrowed Ground

February 23, 2026

Moira Kuhn has farmed Marin County for over two decades without ever owning the land—and what’s at stake if farmers like her can’t stay.

Read More