Water for nature, farms or developers?--legal fight in SJ Valley

More Lawsuits threaten Tejon Ranch sprawl's water supply

excerpted from:
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/09/05/2066738/chinatown-ii-wells-go-dry-water.html

9/5/2010--A story worthy of Hollywood will soon unfold in California courtrooms -- allegations of government corruption and corporate greed to rival the infamous Los Angeles water grab that inspired the film "Chinatown."

Call it "Chinatown II," a tale beginning 15 years ago -- when, according to lawsuits filed in the last three months, the state illegally turned over the publicly owned Kern Water Bank to an agency controlled by giant corporations in a backroom deal.

Filed by the Tucson, Ariz.-based Center for Biological Diversity, Northern California water districts and a fishing group, two lawsuits seek a court order putting the bank back in state hands. They allege the water bank is controlled by two corporations -- Roll International, owned by billionaire Beverly Hills businessman Stewart Resnick, and Tejon Ranch Co., one of the largest private landowners in California.

A third lawsuit, which includes the Kern water districts, asks the court to stop pumping from the water bank and require further analysis to determine how much water can be pumped without drying up neighboring wells...

...Gaylord Beeson won't forget the Kern Water Bank or July 29, the day his productive water well went dry. Nor will the 32 northwest Bakersfield customers in his small water association.

He blames heavy pumping by his neighbor, the water bank. The water table has dropped 115 feet in the last three years -- something that in the past would have taken two decades....

...Water levels in Rosedale are the lowest since the district was formed in 1959...

...Resnick's Paramount Farms controls 58% of the water bank through property ownership in Westside Mutual Water Co. and Dudley Ridge Water District, the lawsuits say.

Through continuing farmland purchases, Paramount owns 120,000 acres, company officials say, making Resnick one of the biggest farmers in the state.

Tejon Ranch controls another 26% in the same way, the lawsuits say. The company plans the state's largest development -- Tejon Mountain Village, nearly 3,500 homes, dining, shopping and other amenities in the Tehachapi Mountains of southern Kern County.

Barry Zoeller of Tejon Ranch Co. disputes the lawsuits, saying his firm is a minor player with only 2% control of the water bank. The company controls only the Tejon-Castac Water District, he said.

But the legal action says Tejon Ranch also is the majority landowner in the Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water District, which controls 24% of the water bank....


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Meanwhile, Landowners fight over San Joaquin River Restoration's Impacts on their Water Rights

excerpted from: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/28/2056901/suit-targets-effects-of-san-joaquin.html#storylink=mirelated#ixzz0z3TnI0cw

8/28/2010--The first lawsuit in the San Joaquin River restoration has been filed by a west-side Valley farming family, claiming the replenished flows are damaging 13,000 prime acres, buildings and crops.

The Wolfsen family -- which includes the Skinner and Mueller families -- says the river has flooded, eroded and seeped into fields east of Los Banos.

A dollar amount for damages is not included in the case, which was filed Thursday in the U.S. Court of Claims in Washington D.C. An amount would be determined as the case proceeds.

A Wolfsen spokesman said the family is not trying to stop the long-awaited restoration, which began in October, more than 20 years after environmentalists sued to return water and salmon to the dried San Joaquin.

"This is a very narrowly focused lawsuit," Wolfsen spokesman Larry Harris said. "We want to preserve property and water rights."...

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Will the Governor's New Reservoir plan evaporate more water than would be saved?

http://restorethedelta.org/?p=539

9/4/2010--As one veteran observer commented, “It’s never too early to form a JPA for an evaporation pond.” Meaning this may not be a wise place to store water.
The proposed Sites Reservoir is about 10 miles west of Maxwell in Northern California, on the east side of the Sacramento Valley. The Northern California Water Association (NCWA) says that Sites would be filled primarily by pumped diversions from the Sacramento River during peak flows in winter....

A reservoir at Sites was considered, and shelved, in 1970. DWR had looked at projected evaporation on another reservoir in the same location (Paskenta-Newville Reservoir) and reported that given the air temperature and winds off the backside of the coastal hills, Sites Reservoir would lose more in evaporation than it would make available for use elsewhere.

According to DWR Bulletin No. 73-1, evaporation at this location in the decade from 1960-1970 ranged from 73 to 96 inches a year. That’s 6-8 feet of water that would never make it to a crop (or a tap).

And that’s at last century’s temperatures, not the higher temperatures projected for this century.

Some knowledgeable people think this is actually a way to get water from the Eel River (despite Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protections) and make it available for the Central Valley and Westlands Water District.

Coincidentally, Thad Bettner, general manager of GCID (backers of the Sites reservoir), used to be the resource manager for Westlands Water District.

Merced Voters may stop urban "sprawl"

Merced growth initiative progresses--

'Save Farmland' impact up for study

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/06/25/1227165/merced-growth-initiative-progresses.html

6/26/2010--MERCED — An initiative aimed at curbing development in Merced's unincorporated lands is one step closer to possibly becoming law.

The Merced County Board of Supervisors voted this week to accept the county registrar's certification of the "Save Farmland" initiative and to begin a 30-day study of the measure's impact on county government and development.

The initiative, if passed by voters or enacted into law, would amend the county's general plan and apply to land designated for either agricultural or open space use. Such land could be converted to residential use only by a public vote. The initiative would lock in such rules until 2040.

More than 7,620 signatures in support of the measure were gathered by the initiative's supporters. The study is intended to help the board decide whether to enact the law or send it to the public for a vote. The study can't keep the initiative from appearing on voters' ballots.

Once the study is completed, supervisors can vote to enact the initiative into law within 10 days or put it on the Nov. 2 ballot.

UC Merced wetlands permit approved...

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UC Merced Receives Key Federal Permit for Long-Term Development Plans

http://media-newswire.com/release_1090350.html (Media-Newswire.com) - MERCED - The University of California, Merced has been granted a key federal permit it needs to move ahead with future development of its planned 25,000-student campus and associated university community.

(the UC Merced campus is 5 miles north of Merced and just east of Lake Yosemite)

May 1, 2009--The university's permit application was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) under Section 404 of the U.S. Clean Water Act. The permit was required because a portion of the university's campus and northern portion of the adjoining university community involves federally protected wetlands (approximately 85 acres).

The university's permit application was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE ) under Section 404 of the U.S. Clean Water Act. The permit was required because a portion of the university's campus and northern portion of the adjoining university community involves federally protected wetlands ( approximately 85 acres ). The initial application was filed in 2002 and resubmitted in 2008 after the university modified the proposed footprint for its campus and the adjacent university community.
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http://www.ucmerced.edu/about_ucmerced/

As part of this process, university officials – through a special collaboration with the Packard Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Nature Conservancy and the State of California – have set aside 25,000 acres of grassland habitat for permanent conservation.

WCB 5/2009: Wildlife Board has slim purchase agenda for May 28th meeting

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Wildlife Conservation Board to finally Meet Again...to Save 164 Acres in Lake and Merced Counties

Postponed due to the State's budget crisis, the Department of Fish and Game is once again buying land.

http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=11390

http://www.wcb.ca.gov/

MAPS: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=14453

May 28, 2009
10:00 A.M.
1/ State Capitol, Room 112
Sacramento, California 95814

Clear Lake Conservation Area, Lake County
To consider the acceptance of a donation from Lake County Watershed Protection District of a Conservation Easement over six real properties totaling 31+ acres to protect a historic wetland habitat, located approximately two and one-half miles northwest of the community of Nice, in Lake County.

North Grasslands Wildlife Area, Gadwall Unit, $560,000.00 Merced County
To consider the acquisition of 133± acres to protect historic wetlands and improve distribution of waterfowl within the Grassland area by the addition of wetland habitat located near the City of Los Banos, in Merced County. The proposed funding source allows for the protection of inland wetlands to benefit waterfowl. [Habitat Conservation Fund, (Proposition 117), Section 2786 (d)(Inland Wetland Conservation Program)]

overworked webmaster goes mad...starts posting loose news items...

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CENTRAL VALLEY-SIERRA NEVADA REGION-- ASSORTED WEBSITES:

PLUMAS AND SIERRA COUNTIES:

http://frlt.org/docs/summer07.pdf

map of lands saved in the Sierra Valley; group is based in Quincy in Plumas County;

Story on 160 acre conservation easement in Sierra Valley

--Also see website for 2007-2008 annual report: lands saved in 07-08 include 160-acre Dan Balderston Ranch in Sierra Valley saved with a conservation easement, 725 acre conservation easement at the Turner Creek Ranch, and contracted to buy the 976 acre Mello Ranch near Loyalton in Sierra County. All total in the FRLT’s history, 12 properties totaling nearly 30,000 acres have been saved in Sierra Valley by FRLT and its partner groups.

High Sierra Rural.org

on the Sierra Valley, how Sierra County strongly protects its rural qualities, while Plumas county does not

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PLACER COUNTY:

http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/CommunityDevelopment/Planning/PlacerLegacy/PlacerLegacyProperties.aspx

map of land preserved in Placer County

http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/CommunityDevelopment/Planning/PlacerLegacy/~/media/cdr/Planning/PlacerLegacy/Acquisitions/2007%2008YearEnd4thQtrReport.ashx

table lists 2687 acres saved since year 2000; around 1500 acres of that total is conservation easements

http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/CommunityDevelopment/Planning/PlacerLegacy/Accomplishments.aspx Placer legacy timeline

http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/CommunityDevelopment/Planning/PlacerLegacy/~/media/cdr/Planning/PlacerLegacy/PrimaryWatersheds.ashx

map of watersheds in Placer County

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SOLANO COUNTY:

http://www.solanocounty.com/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=4865

1580 acre Rockville Trails Estates project in Solano County—9/25/2008

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MERCED COUNTY:

http://www.ucop.edu/news/archives/2001/march20art1.htm

3/20/2001: With a grant in excess of $11 million from the Packard Foundation, UC will acquire the 7,030-acre Virginia Smith Trust parcel northeast of the city of Merced…After acquisition, the university plans to set aside 5,030 acres as a conservation preserve that would protect vernal pool habitat in perpetuity. The remaining 2,000 acres would be used for the proposed new UC Merced campus on the southwest portion of the Virginia Smith Trust lands; the campus portion would include a 750-acre natural reserve of vernal pool habitat protected from development….Triggering the release of $15 million in state-approved habitat acquisition funds from the Wildlife Conservation Board to ensure the conservation of key wetland and vernal pool resources in the surrounding area.

http://www.ucop.edu/news/archives/2001/march20art1a.htm

The UC Merced campus is planned to have an area of 2,000 acres, consisting of: 1) a developed campus of 910 acres; 2) a 750-acre natural reserve, and 3) a reserve of 340 acres for future potential development. The Campus will ultimately host 25,000 students. The Campus Community will be a planned development of approximately 2,000 acres that will eventually have about 30,000 residents.

…Under the proposal, the new campus would be situated away from the most sensitive vernal pool areas of the VST site. The new proposal also calls for the University to create the first phase of the campus on the Merced Hills Golf Course, which is part of the VST.

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TULARE COUNTY:

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20081120/NEWS01/811200316/1002

Exeter and Porterville landowners are wary of state park proposals

11-20-2008: The state's proposal would create a 1,000-acre park near Porterville and a 2,300-acre park near Exeter. A third plan would set aside 500 acres of trails along the Kings River near the Tulare County line just below the Pine Flat Dam….Jack Shannon, whose 4,000-acre cattle ranch near Porterville has been in his family for five generations, found out about the proposed Deer Creek park near his property only a few days ago. On Wednesday he made the hour-long drive to Visalia to find out more about the project….Chad Noble's 3,000-acre ranch property would be bisected by the proposed Deer Creek park….

http://www.sequoiariverlands.org/pdf/IRWMP/WaterConflExistPlans_QualQuant_EconSocial_07_22_08.pdf

-- Land use issues in foothills- urbanization and development moving up from the valley, relying heavily on groundwater

--New development drawing water from other people’s wells- example: Shaver Lake

--Tulare County directing all growth to the foothills to protect agriculture

--Diverting runoff from the Kings River into the San Joaquin to avoid local flooding of Homeland Ranch (Boswell) which is prime agricultural land.

--Yokohl Valley- proposing to build on a stream corridor,

--Shaver Lake development- will be looking for surface water

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KERN COUNTY:

http://www.cuddyvalley.org/blogs/nimby/?p=294

According to Tejon’s very own Draft Water Supply Assessment, this is how Centennial will look from the air. It’s beautiful. It’s like the tulip fields. Who needs wildflowers...

http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/506919.html

7-26-2008: The PdV Wind Energy Project, proposed by enXco, would use 5,820 acres west of Rosamond to generate electricity for Southern California Edison.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/pearsonville-ca/TPJ4IOKJ6DGJGT887

web comments on sale of Onyx Ranch

The windmills will be located on the southern-most section of the property, near the intersections of Jawbone Canyon and Kelso Valley Roads. Other areas closer to Lake Isabella will be olive orchards and vineyards. But whether the family gave some land to the BLM for OHV use, whether they held back any for themselves, and whether they kept the mineral rihts remains to be seen. They have always been responsible landowners, and so I can't see too much becoming tract homes.

http://www.kernsmartgrowth.com

http://www.kernsmartgrowth.com/notices.html

Pine Tree Wind Development Project by Wind Turbine Prometheus proposes a zone change from E (20) to A and A WE (Wind Energy) on 8,000 acres, along with CUPs to allow construction of a temporary batch plant, located 15 miles northeast of Tehachapi.

http://www.proland.com/antelope_valley.asp

Antelope Valley development booster website

http://gthompso.blogspot.com/2008/12/tehachapi.html

photos of Tehachapi region

http://www.cityofvernon.org/about_cov/2008NovGazette.pdf

vague city newsletter mentioning city purchase of portion of Onyx Ranch in the lower Sierra Nevadas

WCB 11/2008

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Another 9511 Acres of Wildlife Habitat Will be Purchased With State Funds

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION BOARD
November 20, 2008
10:00 A.M.
1/ State Capitol, Room 112
Sacramento, California 95814

http://www.wcb.ca.gov/

MAPS: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=14456

*8. South Fork American River, Lower Canyon Unit, $410,000.00 Expansion 3, El Dorado County
a grant to the American River Conservancy for a cooperative project with the California Resources Agency to acquire 45± acres to protect riparian and upland habitat located near Folsom Lake, in El Dorado County. (Proposition 40)

*12. Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve, Expansion 1, $469,000.00 Santa Barbara County
To consider the acquisition of 20± acres to protect rare and threatened species in the community of Lompoc (Proposition 117)

*13. Western Riverside County MSHCP, $177,000.00 Expansions 4 and 5, Riverside County
To consider the allocation for two grants to the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority to acquire two properties totaling 80+ acres to protect threatened and endangered species and wildlife corridors and to further implement Natural Community Conservation Planning efforts, located near the City of Lake Elsinore (Proposition 12)

*14. Whitewater Canyon, MacKenzie Ranch, $410,000.00 Riverside County
To consider the allocation for a grant to Friends of the Desert Mountains (Friends) for a cooperative project with the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to acquire 260± acres to protect endangered species and wildlife corridors (Proposition 12)

*15. Crestridge Preserve, South Crest, Expansion 3, $250,000.00 San Diego County
To consider the allocation for a grant to the Endangered Habitats League (League) Inc., to acquire 29± acres to protect threatened and endangered species and wildlife corridors, located west of the community of Crest (Proposition 84)

*16. The Environmental Trust Bankruptcy, $30,000.00 San Diego, Kern, Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino Counties.
TET acquired most of the 3600 acres of Conserved Property (mostly in San Diego County) in connection with mitigation obligations of private third parties under federal, State or local requirements.

To consider the acceptance of properties as agreed to in negotiations surrounding the bankruptcy and reorganization of The Environmental Trust (TET). The Department of Fish and Game, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego are working cooperatively to transfer the properties previously held by TET to non-profits, State and local government entities to ensure protection of the habitat and open space on the lands. (Proposition 84)

19. Daugherty Hill Wildlife Area, Expansion 11, $610,000.00 Butte County
To consider the acquisition of a conservation easement over 582± acres to protect deer winter range for the Bucks Mountain/Mooretown deer herd located near the Sierra foothill communities of Bangor and Rackersby (Proposition 117)

20. Daugherty Hill Wildlife Area, Expansion 12 $935,000.00 Yuba County
To consider a cooperative project to acquire of 529± acres with the Trust for Public Land and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to protect oak woodlands habitat and deer winter range located near Collins Lake, in the Sierra foothills(Proposition 117)

21. Truckee Basin (Perazzo Meadows), $765,000.00, Sierra County
To consider the allocation for a grant to the Truckee Donner Land Trust for a cooperative project with the Department of Fish and Game, Trust for Public Land, the Resources Agency, and the California Transportation Commission to acquire 982± acres to protect critical fawning areas and summer range for mule deer of the Loyalton-Truckee deer herd and winter migration corridors west of Highway 89, near Webber Lake (Proposition 117). For more information:

http://www.tdlandtrust.org/downloads/PerazzoMeadowsPurchaseCloser9-12-07.pdf

22. Elkhorn Basin Ranch, $3,780,000.00 Yolo County
To consider the allocation for a grant to the Yolo Land Trust for a cooperative project with the Sacramento Valley Conservancy, the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency and the Packard Foundation to acquire three properties totaling 685± acres to protect riparian habitat and agriculture land and to connect large tracts of land located between the Sacramento River and the Yolo Bypass, southeast of Woodland (Proposition 40)

24. Watsonville Slough Conservation Area, $5,510,500.00 and Expansion 1, Santa Cruz County
To consider an allocation for two grants to the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County for cooperative projects with the Department of Fish and Game, State Coastal Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy to acquire two properties totaling 441± acres to protect coastal wetland and upland habitats, provide sustainable habitat for sensitive species, and reduce adverse impacts to the water quality and supply in the slough system located west of Highway 1 in the City of Watsonville (Proposition 84)

25. East Merced Vernal Pool Grassland Preserve, $4,400,000.00 Expansion 6, Merced County
To consider the allocation for a grant to the California Rangeland Trust to acquire a conservation easement over 2,912± acres to protect rolling grasslands with a high density of vernal pools and associated rare and endangered species located northeast of the City of Merced (Proposition 40)

26. Midland School Oak Woodlands Conservation Easement, $4,155,000.00 Santa Barbara County;
To consider the allocation for a grant to the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County for a cooperative project with the Trust for Public Land and the California Transportation Commission to acquire a conservation easement over 2,725± acres to protect and preserve oak woodland habitat in Los Olivos (Proposition 84)

27. Palo Verde Ecological Reserve, $2,585,000.00 Expansions 1 and 2, Riverside County
To consider a cooperative project with the Trust for Public Land to acquire two properties totaling 422± acres to protect desert wash and riparian habitat along the Colorado River located north of Blythe (Proposition 50)

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A Look at the 39-Square-Mile East Merced County Vernal Pools Preserve Created by the Construction of UC Merced

"As of today (2002), the conservation program, co-directed by The Nature Conservancy and the California Wildlife Conservation Board, has already designated more than 31,000 acres for preservation. "

http://www.ucmerced.edu/news_articles/09042002_5_030_acres_in.asp

5,030 Acres in Eastern Merced County Preserved

September 4, 2002

Newest conservation easement highlights partnership
between UC Merced and The Nature Conservancy

Merced, CA - The University of California, Merced and The Nature Conservancy have announced finalization of a conservation easement on 5,030 acres of the former Virginia Smith Trust (VST) property, located in the eastern portion of Merced County.

The generous gifts of $12 million from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and $2 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, made in 2001, facilitated the University's acquisition of the land from the VST.

The Packard gift also enabled UC to convey a conservation easement on the land to The Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy purchased the land as part of its on-going mission to protect suitable property from future development. The area is biologically rich with vernal pool-grasslands habitat and located northeast of the city of Merced.

"The entire conservation effort associated with the development of the UC Merced campus has to date preserved a 39-square mile area that truly showcases this beautiful eastern Merced County landscape," said UC Merced Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey. "The University is proud to announce this recent conservation easement that will help protect the area for California's future generations from future development. The preservation of this wonderful asset will also contribute to the University's educational and research activities."

The easement emphasizes maintenance of ranching and grazing in addition to scientific and other educational activities. The University will create a 750-acre natural reserve adjacent to its new campus where UC researchers may conduct scientific studies to help understand and preserve the complex vernal pool habitat.

"These activities will contribute to the preservation of the property's natural, hydrologic, biological, ecological and scientific values," said Tomlinson-Keasey.

Several years ago The Nature Conservancy planners identified the Merced grasslands as a top conservation priority. With California's population expected to grow by almost 50 percent over the next 25 years, development pressure is particularly strong in the Central Valley.

"As history has shown, in areas of high anticipated growth, such as the San Joaquin Valley, land is quickly developed and not always in the wisest of ways," explained Valerie Gordon, the Nature Conservancy's project director for the Merced grasslands project. "Both animal and plant species are often negatively impacted by such development. We recognize that one of the most effective ways to conserve the precious vernal pool habitat is to protect it with conservation easements, that safeguard it from future development."

The easement will ensure that the property be preserved in perpetuity by prohibiting subdivision, development, and agricultural conversion from ranching to orchards or row crops. The Conservancy will hold and monitor the easement as part of its ongoing mission to protect ecologically valuable habitat. The grasslands northeast of the city of Merced are rich in vernal pools that provide vital habitat for a number of threatened and endangered species.

Vernal "springtime" pools are small seasonal ponds that support a number of at-risk species such as fairy shrimp and rare wildflowers and attract numerous waterfowl and shorebirds in winter and spring. Vernal pools are one of California's most threatened natural communities. Other features of the property include grasslands, mounds and swales, natural stream courses and waterways.

In 1999, Governor Davis and the State Legislature created a $30 million fund to acquire and preserve habitat in eastern Merced County to compensate for the effects of the creation of the new UC Merced campus. As of today, the conservation program, co-directed by The Nature Conservancy and the California Wildlife Conservation Board, has already designated more than 31,000 acres for preservation.

The unprecedented conservation effort has been successful thanks to the work of California Governor Gray Davis, the California State Legislature, federal elected representatives, state and federal agencies, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, private conservation groups including The Nature Conservancy, and the University.

UC Merced is the first American research university to be built in the 21st century and currently employs approximately 100 educators and professionals. The University is planned to eventually grow to 25,000 students at build-out in 2030. In addition to its main campus, UC Merced will utilize digital technology to create an educational network serving students and communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley. The University currently operates educational centers in Bakersfield, Fresno, and Merced. Another center is planned for Modesto.

The Nature Conservancy is an international non-profit membership organization whose mission is to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy and its 1,000,000 members nationwide have safeguarded more than 12 million acres in all 50 states and Canada. The Conservancy has also worked with the like-minded partner organizations to preserve more than 80 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Asia. California is the Conservancy's largest state chapter and a leader in program development. Headquartered in San Francisco, The Nature Conservancy of California has 118,000 members and has protected more than one million acres in the state.

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A Look at the Nature Conservancy's Mount Hamilton Project

http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/california/preserves/art6323.html

San Antonio Valley. Photo © Gary N. Crabbe Join Great Places! Join the Great Places Network today and receive exclusive member benefits, including monthly e-updates on our conservation work in California. Fast Facts Location: East of San Jose and the San Francisco Bay, between Highway 101 and Interstate 5, in the southern Diablo Range. Size: 1.2 million acres. At Stake: Streamside forests, oak and sycamore woodlands, vast grasslands and seasonal wetlands that support migrating birds, bobcats, mountain lions, endangered San Joaquin kit foxes, tule elk, red-legged frogs, western pond turtles, steelhead and endangered bay checkerspot butterflies. Threats: Expanding development, incompatible agricultural practices, proposed infrastructure projects. Results: 81,000 acres in acquisitions and easements for a total of 300,000 acres protected by the Conservancy and its partners.

Hikers in Mount Hamilton.
Photo © Grant Johnson

Encroaching development and proposed infrastructure projects threaten to fragment the last significant expanse of open space between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Great Central Valley.

Time stands still on the southeastern edge of the San Francisco Bay Area, where the wild west of Old California quietly unfolds toward the Great Central Valley. Tule elk graze in secluded valleys among colossal oaks. Rainbow trout and red-legged frogs navigate canyon streams. Cougars prowl the high ridges of the Diablo mountain range, and kit foxes scamper across open grasslands.

Straddling six counties and 1.2 million acres, The Nature Conservancy’s Mount Hamilton project supports a wide variety of natural communities that have graced Central California for centuries. But this last significant expanse of wilderness between Silicon Valley and the Central Valley is feeling the pinch of a growing population. New housing developments creep toward the project’s outer rims every year, and proposed infrastructure projects for rail lines, freeways and water projects threaten to carve the expansive wilderness into pieces. The Nature Conservancy is pursuing a number of strategies to protect Mount Hamilton and preserve its biological richness for future generations.

Ring of Conservation

The Conservancy launched its Mount Hamilton project in 1998 with the acquisition of two large ranches totaling 61,000 acres. Since then, we have worked cooperatively with landowners to acquire land or restrict development on key private properties situated among the region’s many public parks. As these private and public parcels merge into larger, contiguously conserved landscapes, they will eventually form a ring of protection around Mount Hamilton. This will allow ranchers to preserve their way of life and give native plants and animals the open space they need to survive. Protection of Mount Hamilton’s watersheds provides the additional benefit of keeping the region’s water supply clean.

Lifeline for Wildlife

The Nature Conservancy is also working with partners to preserve the upper Pajaro River floodplain. Located between Gilroy and Hollister, this 20,000-acre spread of agricultural lands, perennial streams and seasonal wetlands is the most defensible, undeveloped wildlife corridor remaining between the inland Diablo Mountains and the coastal Santa Cruz mountain range. Preserving it will allow animals to travel safely between the two ranges, giving large mammals the territory they need to maintain a genetically diverse population.

Here, the Conservancy’s strategy is two-fold: to protect the immediate banks of the upper Pajaro River, and to create an additional buffer by limiting the use of adjacent lands to wildlife-friendly agriculture.

Smart Planning

As California’s population grows, demands for new public works projects increase as well. Three such projects — proposals for new reservoir, a new freeway and a new high-speed rail line — threaten to fragment the Mount Hamilton wilderness and undermine the long-term health of its native plants and animals. The Nature Conservancy is working with many organizations and to ensure that the environmental impacts of these proposed projects are scientifically rigorously studied, and that the projects — should they go forward — be sited along existing transportation corridors or in already-developed areas.

With your help, The Nature Conservancy can preserve a vital part of Old California for future generations, while allowing a new California to blossom.

WCB 8/2007: Wildlife Board saves more land

Land Conservation Purchases Financed by the WCB on August, 23, 2007

MAPS: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=14445

NORTH COAST:

Humboldt Bay Coastal Reserve, Expansion 1, Humboldt County, 23 acres in fee for $175,000

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA:

Lower Pitkin Marsh, Sonoma County, 27 acres in fee for $970,000

CENTRAL VALLEY AND SIERRA NEVADA'S:

Portuguese Ridge Conservation Area, Mariposa County, 80 acre conservation easement for $200,000

Merced River, Expansion 1, Merced County, 78 acre conservation easement for $1.395 million

Bass Hill Lassen Creek, 265 acre Conservation Easement, Lassen County for $400,000

CENTRAL COAST:

Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve (Augmentation and Change of Scope), Expansions 9 through 12, Monterey County

Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve, Expansion 13 through 15, Monterey County, 67 acres in fee for $3.01 million

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:

Burcham and Wheeler Flat Wildlife Area, Mono County, 1160 acres in fee for $1.94 million

Ramona Grasslands, Expansion 1, San Diego County, 1350 acres in fee for $11 million

Staff Report – Utility Easement Transfer (at Goodan Ranch Preserve), 0.089 acres to SDG&E

San Diego County

Triple Creeks Conservation Area, Expansion 1, 6.24 acres in fee, Riverside County; cost: $335,000