Family ranch preserved forever in SLO County wine country. ‘A dream come true’
Sitting on his porch among Sycamore trees, Laird Foshay looked out over countless acres of wilderness.
From his chair, Foshay pointed out Junipero Serra Peak, the highest mountain in the Santa Lucia Range. Closer, he spotted Rocky Butte, a mountaintop known for being the rainiest spot in San Luis Obispo County.
Some land in the viewshed was privately owned, while other parcels were managed by the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management.
Foshay and his wife, Lisa, recently added their 890-acre property to the patchwork of protected land in the Adelaida region of San Luis Obispo County.
For 25 years, the Foshay family has owned the Adelaida Springs Ranch, producing beef cattle and wine grapes in northwestern San Luis Obispo County. On Jan. 31, the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County purchased a conservation easement over the property.
The Foshay family will continue to own and manage the land, but the easement blocks future development on the property. Land Conservancy members can access the property through docent-led hikes.
“It’s a dream come true,” Foshay told The Tribune.
Since 2002, the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County has permanently protected about 19,000 acres in the Adelaida region through the purchase of conservation easements.
“The agricultural heritage of San Luis Obispo County and the Adelaida region in particular, it goes back a long ways,” Land Conservancy conservation program manager Cain Silvey said. “It’s part of the community out here.”
Wilderness and ranchland meet at Adelaida Springs Ranch
In 2000, the Foshays exited a career in the publishing business and bought the ranch, which is nestled in Adelaida wine country, accessed by winding roads through a canopy of oak trees.
Foshay described ranching as “a kind of antidote to business life.”
From raising cattle to growing wine grapes, the Foshays prioritize sustainability in their operations, he said.
The Foshays grow three varietals of grapes, including merlot, petite sirah and malbec, and they haven’t applied herbicides to the vineyard in 15 years.
“I didn’t like working with the chemicals,” Foshay said. “So we just stopped doing it.”
Instead, they remove unwanted plants manually with a Clemens weed knife, he said.
They also spray insecticides once every few years to manage leafhoppers, an insect that sucks the chlorophyll out of grape leaves. Additionally, due to the combination of fog and warm temperatures on the ranch, the Foshays must spray fungicides on the plants once every two weeks from April to August, he said.
Still, the Foshays have significantly reduced the amount of pesticides they apply to the vineyard since they started farming.
Meanwhile, the ranch implements what Foshay called “hippie cattle grazing.”
Traditionally, calves are separated from their mothers after weaning. But Foshay keeps the calves with their mother for two years “so they all get to be a family,” he said.
The ranch also practices rotational grazing, which means they move the cattle between pastures strategically to stimulate grass growth. If cattle remain in a pasture too long, they’ll compact the soil and trample the seed bed, he said.
“If you rotate them around the ranch, the cover is a little better and the pastures are a little more productive,” Foshay said. “It’s really about paying attention to the landscape and making sure the cattle don’t stay too long in one place.”
Foshay described his relationship with the land as “intimate.” From moving cattle, to building fences and digging trenches — he’s gained a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the land.
“You notice things — soil changes, rock changes. There’s a lot of differences and diversity in the landscape here. And, you know, I learned about it up close and personal,” he said.
Foshay took The Tribune and the Land Conservancy on a tour of the property in an ATV on July 15. Driving across the land, he showed his audience where blue oak trees growing in limestone soil transitioned to pine trees, which grow in more acidic soil.
He passed by a particularly tall valley oak tree and said, “that one right there is a beauty.”
With a laugh, he also pointed out what he calls Promiscuity Ridge — where deer often go to breed.
The ranch is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including golden eagles, bald eagles, red tail hawks, red shoulder hawks, cooper’s hawks, badgers, weasels, bears and mountain lions.
“They’re all here, so, to me, that’s kind of what it’s all about,” Foshay said. “Being able to contribute to that in some small way is nice.”
He passed by bay laurel trees, whose leaves offer delicious seasoning to soups, stews and sauces. He parked the ATV near a gooseberry bush, then plucked a plump, fuzzy berry and tossed it in his mouth.
He said there’s evidence of the Chumash tribe living on the property centuries ago. He often finds arrowheads, abalone shells and metates ground into stone on the property. Between acorns, toyon berries and an abundance of game — there was plenty for Indigenous peoples to eat, he said.
“This open landscape and all these different types of plants and all the wildlife that flourishes here is an incredibly rich environment,” Foshay said.
Silvey said the Adelaida Springs Ranch shows how wildlife and agriculture can thrive alongside each other.
“This patchwork of private and public protected lands from Highway 46 up through Big Sur, it’s just such an important place for wildlife and agriculture,” he said.
This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM.
