In 1966, the entire up-valley community was shaken to the core when it was revealed that the State planned to build a freeway right through the Valley destroying valuable farmland and inviting urban development. This controversy sparked the beginning movement of the Ag Preserve spearheaded by Jack Davies, the new owner of Schramsberg Winery. It's goal was to control growth and preserve the natural and agricultural landscape of the Napa Valley.

James Conaway in his book, NAPA, aptly describes the sentiment of the time, "Things came to a head at the supervisors hearing held in the St. Helena grammar school in that very important year, 1968. Supporters and adversaries sat together, waiting their turn to speak. The two Galleron brothers, old-time growers and the epitome of hardworking, unprivileged, unexciting, and unpretentious farmers, also epitomized the split in the valley. One Galleron stood up and denounced the ag preserve as destructive of private property. The other stood up and praised the idea as a means of keeping productive land out of the grip of speculators and suburbanites."

And in the end, even though the ag preserve was adopted and the freeway was never built, most of the winegrowers never felt certain they were safe from developers and constantly kept an eye out for bulldozers.

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