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The Nature Conservancy Announces Purchase of Largest Conservation Easement in California History

Permanently Protects Sacramento Valley Cattle Ranch

San Francisco, CA — November 8, 1999 — The Nature Conservancy of California announced today that it has purchased the largest conservation easement in California history in order to protect the privately-owned 36,000-acre Denny Ranch near Red Bluff in Tehama County. The easement permanently preserves rich natural habitats while keeping a working cattle ranch in private hands. The ranch, owned by the Denny Land & Cattle Company, is located within the area of the Conservancy's Lassen Foothills Project in the northern Sacramento Valley.

"Whether we live in San Francisco, Sacramento, or Salinas, the Lassen Foothills are significant to each of us," said Steve McCormick, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy of California. "The area's large cattle ranches with their vast grasslands have existed virtually unchanged for generations. Combined, they make up one of the largest unfragmented and most biologically diverse landscapes in the state. By preserving ranch lands, we can also preserve wild lands. That's why The Nature Conservancy is cooperating with private landowners to protect working ranches. Together, we can ensure that a healthy legacy combining conservation and productive economic activity is passed on to future generations."

The Nature Conservancy, a national non-profit organization with chapters in all 50 states, is devoted to safeguarding natural habitats and native species. The organization often purchases critical natural lands — or development rights to the land — and works with private landowners and local conservation groups to ensure their long-term conservation management.

"The significance of this conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy is that it preserves our working cattle ranch as well as its native habitats," stated Dusty de Braga, ranch manager for the Denny Land & Cattle Company. "The continued loss of ranches in California and across the country threatens more than our livelihood and our food supply. If the Denny Ranch had been subdivided and developed, we would have lost thousands of acres of native grasses, blue oak woodlands, and vernal pools that support many native animals including deer, raptors, and waterfowl. Our mission is to have Denny Land & Cattle Company raising livestock 100 years from now, and this conservation easement will help ensure that we succeed."

The Nature Conservancy's Lassen Foothills Project area covers 830,000 acres (1,300 square miles) and extends from the foothills of Lassen Peak in the southern Cascade Range to the Sacramento River. The area includes five major tributaries of the Sacramento that support native Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. The project is one of the select large-scale conservation efforts initiated by the Conservancy to safeguard the most biologically important landscapes throughout the state from encroaching development and intensive land uses that destroy both native habitats and traditional economic activities.

Peggy McNutt, the Conservancy's Lassen Foothills Project Director, commented, "If we lose the working ranches in eastern Tehama County, we stand to lose much of the area's significant natural resource diversity as well as a large part of the local economy and a way of life. Cattle grazing can be good for the environment because it helps control exotic weeds that choke out native plants and lower the quality of forage for cattle and deer alike. The conservation easement allows the owners to continue ranching and providing economic benefits for the local community while preserving forever the natural and scenic values of this beautiful landscape."

The Lassen Foothills area is rich in natural resources, including

• Four runs of Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and other native fishes
• One of a handful of large blue oak woodlands remaining in California
• Some of the state's best remaining vernal ("springtime") pools surrounded by large, undeveloped grasslands
• Ribbons of riparian forests along creeks, providing critical habitat for native wildlife species including yellow-legged frogs, colorful migratory songbirds, and native fish
• California's largest migratory deer herd

The Denny Ranch has one of the largest private stands of blue oaks in California. Blue oak woodlands — unique to this state — are as characteristic a California landscape as coastal redwood forests, if less known. Blue oak woodlands in the Lassen Foothills support a wide variety of native animals, including raptors such as bald eagles and prairie falcons, cavity-nesting birds like acorn woodpeckers, and deer.

In addition, the ranch has several large vernal ("springtime") pools and sweeping expanses of grassland. Working in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy, the ranch's staff is working to control invasive weeds like medusa-head with carefully-timed prescribed burns and to improve the forage by increasing the abundance and diversity of native plants.

The Nature Conservancy's purchase of this easement was supported by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other private organizations and individuals.

The Nature Conservancy has been active in the Lassen Foothills for a number of years. The Conservancy owns the 4,600-acre Vina Plains Preserve and manages the 37,000-acre Dye Creek Preserve, which is also a working cattle ranch. The Conservancy has been cooperating with other landowners in the area to preserve their ranches and family lands and has been working with local conservancies — the Deer Creek Watershed Conservancy, Mill Creek Conservancy, and Battle Creek Watershed Conservancy — to protect and restore streamside habitat along these important tributaries of the Sacramento River.

Education is also an important part of The Nature Conservancy's work with local communities. Because the long-term success of conservation depends on teaching the next generation good conservation values, the Conservancy aims much of its outreach program at students. As many as 1,500 schoolchildren from the local Los Molinos school district visit Dye Creek Preserve annually to learn about typical plant and animal species of the region and to engage in hands-on restoration work.

The educational program, which integrates a classroom curriculum with hands-on outdoor activities on the Preserve, teaches students the natural and cultural history of the Lassen area and the larger Sacramento Valley, introduces them to the science of preserving and restoring sensitive habitat, and shows them ways in which humans can live in harmony with nature.

The schoolchildren also participate in the restoration of riverside forests along the lower stretches of Dye and Mill Creeks. They have constructed a greenhouse at the local high school where they germinate seeds and acorns and grow them to the seedling stage. The students are involved in preparing the soil for planting, propagating and planting seedlings, installing a drip irrigation system to water the restoration plot, and monitoring the results.