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The Nature Conservancy Announces Largest Land Conservation Acquisition in Sacramento Area History

San Francisco, CA — April 21, 1999— Just in time for Earth Day, The Nature Conservancy of California announced today that it is purchasing a 12,362-acre or 19.3 square mile portion of the Howard Ranch in southeast Sacramento County. It is the largest land conservation acquisition in the history of the Sacramento region. The property being acquired is approximately twice the size of Sacramento's urbanizing North Natomas area, and about 30 times as big as Sacramento's well-known William Land Park. It brings to about 35,000 acres the Cosumnes River Preserve, a 12-year-old, multi-agency farmland and habitat protection project in south Sacramento and north San Joaquin counties. Funding for the $13.6 million purchase comes from both private and public sources.

The Nature Conservancy targeted Howard Ranch because it is productive rangeland harboring unique and valuable vernal pools (springtime wetlands) and extensive woodlands of blue oak trees and other native species. The acquisition represents the type of science-based, collaborative effort that is the hallmark of The Nature Conservancy. It initiates implementation of The Nature Conservancy's vernal pools and blue oak woodland protection plan on the Cosumnes River Preserve. Last year, The Packard Foundation, a private foundation that has led critical conservation initiatives throughout the State, offered the first funding commitment for implementation of the plan. Additional funding partners for this acquisition include the State Water Resources Control Board, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, the State Wildlife Conservation Board, the North American Wetlands Conservation Council, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation (Central Valley Project Improvement Act funds).

The purchase of the Howard Ranch and its long-term protection as rangeland counter two threats to the property: conversion to vineyards, and future conversion to urban uses. Much of the property to the west and south of the ranch has been converted to vineyards over the past three years, using a plowing process ("deep ripping") which destroys the vernal pools and reduces the natural watershed values of the landscape. This in turn eases the way for major housing development in the area."Here as elsewhere in California, explosive growth threatens our remaining natural landscapes. California's population is expected to increase by almost 50 percent over the next 25 years — that's as if everyone in New York State were to move here by the year 2025," said Steve McCormick, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy of California. "Our Howard Ranch purchase and the Cosumnes River Watershed Project will protect critical habitats, open spaces and water quality in one of the state's most rapidly-growing areas, the Central Valley. Our partners' commitment is critical to our California program. With their support, The Nature Conservancy can take lands that are wild by nature and preserve them by design," he concluded.

Mike Eaton, Director of the Conservancy's Cosumnes River Project said, "The Howard Ranch purchase fits The Nature Conservancy's master plan of smart science and savvy economics. It will protect water quality, maintain a wildlife-compatible agricultural enterprise, and keep the land on the tax roll — goals which we share with Sacramento County and our agency partners. Everyone wins — cattle ranchers, the public, and the myriad of species which depend on healthy natural systems like the vernal pools and blue oak woodlands of the Howard Ranch."

Added John Schmidt, Executive Director of the State Wildlife Conservation Board, "The mosaic of valuable habitats present on the Howard Ranch made this a particularly compelling opportunity for the Wildlife Conservation Board. We are proud to be a partner in its protection." The Nature Conservancy's overall strategy is to advance conservation by expanding beyond traditional "buy-and-sell" approaches. The organization promotes a variety of conservation activities in its ecoregional project areas. For example, in the Cosumnes River Preserve, traditional land acquisition work is combined with programs that meet important community education and economic objectives. The Nature Conservancy sponsors programs for school children and a Visitors' Center, has created a partnership for a profitable 1,000-acre organic rice farm, and leads a nonstructural flood control initiative.

The non-profit organization is devoted to safeguarding natural habitats and native species; it often purchases critical natural lands or the development rights to them and works with government agencies, private landowners and local conservation groups to ensure long-term conservation management and protection for future Californians. The Conservancy's plan for the Howard Ranch is to resell it to a ranching company, subject in perpetuity to conservation easements that assure minimum development or disturbance of the property. The resale strategy allows the Conservancy to take much of the capital that would have been absorbed by this purchase and apply it to other conservation acquisitions within the Cosumnes watershed.

The Conservancy's Howard Ranch land conservation project is the largest land acquisition ever funded in the United States under the federal Clean Water Act's State Revolving Fund (SRF). In California, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collaborated on providing an $8 million low-interest loan to the Conservancy to complete the $13.6 million fundraising target. The significance of this arrangement was highlighted by Walt Pettit, Executive Director of the SWRCB: "While state revolving funds have been used in the past to acquire property on which to construct stormwater treatment facilities, this is the first time an SRF loan has beenissued specifically to purchase property in order to preserve wetlands, which include vernal pools, and riparian habitat." Tim Vendlinski, a life scientist at EPA, said, "The vast scale of this deal sends a clear message nationwide. By protecting ecosystems we are safeguarding water quality — and the State Revolving Fund is here to help."