Coalition-Member Spotlight

Ceja Vineyards, Timbuk2, Kokatat, La Rocca Vineyards, Wilderness Press, Horny Toad, Atlas Snowshoe, China Ranch Date Farm, Kennan Ward Photography

China Ranch Date Farm

Brian Brown is the owner and founder of China Ranch Date Farm. China Ranch is a family owned and operated small farm, a lush piece of greenery amidst the forbidding Mojave Desert near Southern Death Valley. The Ranch is rich in history. The Old Spanish Trail is within walking distance, as is the historic Tonopah & Tidewater railroad bed.

At the ranch, you can buy home grown dates, as well as other California varieties. The Campaign recommends trying some of their delicious date nut cookies. Visit them on the web at www.chinaranch.com.

Q&A Brian Brown

Q. Why did you join CWHC

A. Our area of the Mojave is under population growth pressures from Nevada which may eventually cause us to simply run out of groundwater, period, in this region. Preserving wilderness may help to slow that process.

Q. What is the focus of your business

A. We own a small farm where we grow dates, and operate a gift shop on the property. Our area was historically mining, but is now coming back slowly as an ecotourism destination.

Q. How does your focus relate to nature/the environment

A. A healthy and wild desert is critical to the business plan for the entire Death Valley region. Without spectacular and remote places to visit, there is no reason for visitors to come here. Wildlands are critical to the survival of our business personally as well as region wide.

Q. What drew you to the Campaign

A. My concern was that without active protection, the entire Mojave Desert would eventually become subject to the ugly kind of development that has already consumed much of the western Mojave and certain areas of Nevada.

Q. Why should businesses care about the environment

A. In our case, it is completely obvious that without wild lands and spectacular, uncluttered scenery we would have no business. There are many areas of nearby Nevada that were thriving 100 years ago and are abandoned now. That same thing could happen to us if we trash the one unique resource we have, which is the land itself.

Q. Where can our activists find you

A. At China Ranch, near the southern end of Death Valley, or at www.chinaranch.com on the web.

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