St. Helena, CA – The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) and Napa Resource Conservation District (RCD) announced today that they have partnered to offer LandSmart® Level II conservation planning as an additional avenue for local vintners and growers to obtain Napa Green Land certification.

LandSmart® is a regional program of RCDs in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties that helps land owners to meet their natural resource management goals while supporting productive lands and thriving streams. The Napa Green Certified Land and Winery programs are rigorous, third-party certified, environmental programs for vineyards and wineries in the Napa Valley. Certification of the entire parcel of land and facilities makes Napa Green one of the most comprehensive environmental accreditations for the wine industry. The linking of LandSmart® and Napa Green is a natural progression that will better serve the agricultural industry in Napa County.

“We’re excited to deepen our partnership with the NVV and all the Napa Green partners in our work with land managers interested in going above and beyond to comprehensively manage the natural resources of their land,” says Leigh Sharp, executive director of the Napa RCD and a partner in developing LandSmart®.

To date, more than 40,000 acres of vineyard and other agricultural land has already been certified Napa Green, including more than 40 percent of Napa County’s total vineyard acreage. Until now, Fish Friendly Farming, run by the California Land Stewardship Institute, was the sole path to Napa Green Land certification. The inclusion of LandSmart® is intended to provide land owners with an additional certification option, with the goal of increasing the overall Napa Green acreage in Napa County and helping land owners become certified more quickly.

“The more Napa County land that can become Napa Green Certified, the better for the health and wellbeing of our entire community,” commented Julie Johnson, chair of the NVV’s Napa Green Advisory Group and winemaker and owner of Tres Sabores winery in Rutherford. “We’re thrilled to have formed this partnership with the RCD creating an additional resource for vintners and growers who are eager to demonstrate their stewardship and commitment to our beautiful valley.”

In 2015, NVV established the goal that all of its eligible members will be part of either or both of the Napa Green programs by the year 2020. The Napa Green Certified Land and Winery programs represent a soil to bottle approach to environmental stewardship and winemaking, integrating holistic management practices at every step of the grape growing and winemaking processes.

The Napa Green Certified Land program addresses the environmental management of not just vineyards, but entire properties, contributing to the preservation of the Napa River watershed. With this new partnership, land owners can now work with LandSmart® representatives to create customized, whole farm conservation plans. Assessments include a review of general vineyard practices, roads, waterways, open space and water management.

To obtain certification, land owners must implement measures designed to retain soils and prevent erosion, identify and reduce harmful inputs and runoff, conserve water resources and restore wildlife habitat to protect and enhance biodiversity. The program is third-party certified, ensuring that land owners meet and exceed local, state and federal environmental regulations.