Climate-Smart Land Stewardship: Partners Share Progress

02/20/26

In November 2023, we announced the County of San Diego's (County’s) award of $1.7M from the California Department of Conservation’s Climate Smart Land Management Program. This article highlighted the projects we planned to launch with our partners to advance climate-smart practices which improve soil health, store carbon, and build resilience to climate change impacts. Since then, the County’s Planning & Development Services, in partnership with the Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County (RCDGSDC), has been working to build capacity and implement projects that benefit agricultural producers and land managers.

These efforts include creating new programs, improving existing ones, and piloting demonstration projects that showcase climate-smart practices. On December 16, 2025, partners gathered at the Ramona Public Library for our second All-Partners Meeting to share updates and connect. An overview of the highlights is listed below.

Building and Sustaining Capacity

California Department of Conservation Logo

These projects strengthen the foundation for climate-smart agriculture and land management by improving access to resources, supporting tribal stewardship, and streamlining programs.

  • The Tribal Land Stewardship training program, led by the Kumeyaay Diegueño Land Conservancy, doubled its cohort from 18 to 36 participants, created a workbook, and is planning cultural burns to share traditional ecological knowledge.
  • Mentorship opportunities have included events that connect beginning farmers and ranchers with experienced producers. A Farmer-to-Farmer social event was held at Seeds at City College that brought together 45 participants and additional events will be planned for this year.

Natural Working Land Climate Smart Strategy

Mapping and connectivity planning ensure that agricultural lands and natural habitats work together to support biodiversity and climate resilience. This project helps protect wildlife corridors while maintaining productive farmland.

Demonstration Labs

New Crop Plant

These projects showcase practical climate-smart techniques, such as carbon farming, water-efficient crops, and prescribed grazing, that local producers can adopt to sequester carbon, conserve water, and improve soil health.

  • The Sustainable Operations in Land Stewardship (SOILS) Program incentivizes climate-friendly agricultural practices on thirteen farms and ranches across the region. Zero Foodprint leads the program with Foodshed Cooperative providing technical assistance.
  • A CropSWAP demonstration site at Grangetto Ranches in Escondido replaced older avocado trees with water-efficient varietals and a demo day is planned for 2026 to share lessons learned.
  • The Prescribed Grazing project will be using virtual fencing to encourage cattle to graze in certain areas of Flying F Ranch in Santa Ysabel and will plan a demonstration day that will include a youth mentorship component.

Next Steps

Moving forward, we will continue to track progress on all initiatives and ensure full implementation of the Climate Smart Land Management grant through the end of the year. Efforts will focus on maintaining momentum for capacity-building projects and preparing upcoming demonstration days.