Majestic memorial: Woodside man sells ranch for open space preserve Majestic memorial: Woodside man sells ranch for open space preserve (February 13, 2002)

**Driscoll Ranch sold by Woodside man in memory of his father.

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

One man's tribute to his late father is a gift that local outdoor enthusiasts will be able to enjoy for generations to come.

Last week, the Peninsula Open Space Trust announced its purchase of the Driscoll Ranch, a 3,681-acre expanse of rolling hills, oak trees and redwood forests located near La Honda, for $21 million.

Rudy Driscoll Jr. said he was determined to see his family's cattle ranch land protected in order to honor the wishes of his father, who died last September.

"It was his dream to keep the land as open space and to sell it to POST or another organization that would protect it," Mr. Driscoll said.

Within the next few years, POST officials plan to transfer the Driscoll Ranch to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, creating a new open space preserve available to hikers, horseback riders and bicyclists, said Walter Moore, vice president of land protection.

"We're just thrilled about it," Mr. Moore said. "It's a really dramatic property both in size and importance."

The deal, which took more than four years to hammer out, is fairly unique for the open space trust, said Mr. Moore. Under the purchase agreement, Mr. Driscoll will have lifetime grazing, pedestrian and equestrian activity rights on the land, subject to resource management plan. He also will retain a 300-acre portion of the ranch, which includes a house, the ranch office, and the arena where the Coastside County Rodeo is held.

Mr. Driscoll said he hopes the arrangement will educate people about the beneficial use of cattle for vegetation management. With proper management, grazing can control the influx of invasive and exotic weeds, such as yellow star thistle, which benefits native grasses and plants, he said.

Reaching the agreement to allow for "conservation grazing" as well as to preserve the habitat of wild animals and allow for low-impact public recreation took some time, said Mr. Moore.

"We believe that they're all compatible goals, but it took lot of discussions and brainstorming on how to achieve all of them," he said.

In Mr. Driscoll, "you couldn't have a better partner to launch what is going to be a very long-term relationship," said Mr. Moore.

The 5.75-square-mile Driscoll Ranch is adjacent to the open space district's La Honda Open Space Preserve and the Djerassi Resident Artist Program property, forming a broad swath of natural landscape along Highway 84 northwest of La Honda.

The property contains a steep valley bordered by two broad, grassy ridges and is home to numerous animals, including golden eagles, steelhead trout, bobcats, the Southwestern pond turtle and threatened California red-legged frogs.

Rudy Driscoll Sr., a Menlo Park resident, bought the property in 1968 and later purchased adjacent properties __ the Wool Ranch and the Folger Ranch.

Mr. Driscoll, 34, is a former Menlo Park police officer who left the force in 1994 to work with his father on the ranch. He said his father was a longtime supporter of POST's work to preserve open space on the Peninsula, an association that led to the agreement to sell the property to the private land trust.

Mr. Driscoll conducted discussions with POST on behalf of a limited liability company that owned the ranch and won the approval of the sale from its board of directors __ mostly made up of extended family members, he said.

"My dad was a very fair man," said Mr. Driscoll. "One of the reasons the price is where it is, is because he wanted to give POST a break."

The property has 100 density credits __ theoretically giving its owners the right to build up to 100 houses, Mr. Driscoll said. But his father was concerned about the layer of clay contained in the coastal hills and was worried that mudslides or instability could undermine any development, he said.

"He never wanted that ethical or moral weight on his hands. He was very much into keeping the area as open space," Mr. Driscoll said.

He is grateful that before his father died in September, he knew that the ranch's sale to POST had essentially gone through, Mr. Driscoll said. Now, he said, he is looking forward to seeing the public explore the many old roads and trails on the property.

"People will be able to go hiking and be rather unlikely to come across anybody else," said Mr. Driscoll. "It's nice that the public will be able to see it. It's a tribute to my family's stewardship of the land."