FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Peter Fimrite
Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle
pfimrite@sfchronicle.com
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A San Francisco nonprofit raised $7.5 million to buy up a 426-acre swath of the Noyo River Canyon and save the land's ancient redwoods from being torn down by a private company.
Save the Redwoods League beat an April 1 deadline set by Willits Redwood Co., the company that owns the land and was threatening to log the trees. The sale will allow the group to give the land -- the largest privately owned old-growth forest on the West Coast -- to a conservation organization.
"We've had remarkable success raising money in a tough economy, and now we get to purchase that land and ensure that the trees won't be harvested," said executive director Ruskin Hartley. "People up in Mendocino County have been fighting to preserve this grove for 30 years and we're just following their lead."
The redwoods, the oldest of which have been around for more than 1,500 years, cover 123 acres. The land also provides a habitat for several threatened and endangered species, including the northern spotted owl, the bald eagle and the Pacific fisher. The Noyo Canyon also provides a breeding ground for several salmon species and hosts rare species like the northern red-legged frog and the southern torrent salamander.
Had the sale not been completed, Willits Redwood was planning to log the old trees, which can draw more than 10 times as much for their wood than younger redwoods.
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]]>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jamison Watts
Executive Director
530-894-7738 | jwatts@landconservation.org
CHICO, CA -- The Northern California Regional Land Trust (NCRLT) has acquired two voluntary conservation easements protecting two working ranches and approximately 7,132 contiguous acres of rangeland in western Tehama County, approximately 15 miles west of Red Bluff. Hailed as a “hallmark conservation project for the region” by Executive Director Jamison Watts, these easements will preserve the region’s ranching tradition and ecological values that are present today for future Californians. Funding for the purchase of the two easements was provided by the California Wildlife Conservation Board in the amount of $3.9 million.
Among the resources conserved, the “Red Bank Project” will permanently protect 4,275 contiguous acres of oak woodland as well as annual grassland, working farmland, chamise-redshank chaparral, spring-fed wetlands, intermittent and perennial streams, riparian habitat along Red Bank Creek and North Fork Elder Creek, scenic open space, and habitat supporting several special-status species including valley elderberry longhorn beetle, foothill yellow-legged frog, and California red-legged frog. The project is also contiguous with approximately 7,000 acres of land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and Mendocino National Forest, providing an essential buffer to help prevent incompatible land use or development. As with all of its conservation easements, NCRLT will hold and monitor the easements into the future.
In addition to principal funding from the California Wildlife Conservation Board, several conservation organizations contributed technical support or funding towards the success of the Red Bank Project including Defenders of Wildlife, CAL FIRE, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and Partners for Fish and Wildlife. Additional supporters included the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition, California Cattlemen’s Association, California Department of Fish and Game, and The Nature Conservancy.
The Northern California Regional Land Trust has assisted northern California landowners and public agencies in the protection of their land and natural resources, while also helping them gain the economic benefits of conservation, since 1990. The organization carries out its mission by negotiating conservation easements and facilitating voluntary land exchanges and land acquisitions with willing sellers and buyers. For more information, call (530) 894-7738 or visit www.landconservation.org.
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QUARTZ HILL, CA-- Across the Mojave Desert, thousands of acres of industrial sized “renewable energy” projects are being fast-tracked by federal incentives and Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order. Californians want cleaner energy for homes, cars and businesses, but the destruction of core habitat is decidedly not “green”.
Energy companies are targeting remote and fragile Mojave Desert habitats, and even public lands are being permitted for massive energy plants.
At Ivanpah, “The project hemorrhages the very heart of the biologically rich eastern Mojave Desert, where plant diversity rivals that of the primeval coastal redwood forests of the Pacific Northwest,” said Jim Andre, Director of the University of California’s Granite Mountains Desert Research Center. “This area is treasured by scientists throughout the world for its unparalleled pristine quality among deserts, one of the last functional ecosystems left on Planet Earth.”
Antelope Valley rural areas are being impacted, from Neenach to Roosevelt to Bouquet Canyon.
In Bouquet Canyon, landowners allege that transmission towers were erected in violation of the permit, and the height and location now impedes fire fighting planes’ flight path to Bouquet Reservoir. They claim that careless construction crews had little concern for children walking home from school, and even less concern for the red legged frogs they encountered in their work.
In Neenach to the north, over 200 acres of Joshua tree woodlands, much of which were located within an SEA, were bulldozed last year without biological review. The agricultural firm that bulldozed the site allegedly ignored a County cessation order. They were reportedly leasing the land from a solar company.
Next door, in the Fairmont Butte area, citizens are defending not only their rural community and home investments, but also the Poppy Reserve State Park and mitigation lands purchased (with public funds) in the Significant Ecological Area (SEA 57) from being destroyed by thousands of acres of wind and solar plants.
To the east, in quiet rural Roosevelt, 5,000 acres were proposed for a solar plant and transmission line. The size of the proposal has been reduced to 700 acres, but half is pristine Joshua tree habitat, not disturbed lands. The community is opposing the project. “There are plenty of roofs to put solar on”, says Roosevelt Rural Town Council President Barbara Firsick, “they don’t have to come here to ruin the neighborhood and the birds’ habitat.”
Citizens are finding it hard — and expensive — to address concerns or violations. Antelope Valley Conservancy thinks that formation of a citizens oversight committee might be a way to support and provide resources for communities’ project responses. At the October 28 meeting of the Association of Rural Town Councils, Wayne Argo proposed a coordinated letter of concerns, and asked the RTCs to submit their concerns (wayneargo@hughes.net). Near Ivanpah, citizens are uniting through Solar Done Right (solardoneright.org). Citizens can visit the DRECP and California Energy Commission web sites, and write letters/emails of comment during the public comment periods.
]]>Joshua Tree, CA – Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) announced today that it has successfully completed the acquisition of 955 acres of pristine wildlife habitat on the northern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park. The acquisition will permanently preserve a section of wildlife corridor required for the movement of bighorn sheep, badger, mule deer, mountain lion and dozens of bird species, in addition to providing pristine habitat for the recovery of the threatened desert tortoise. The acquisition also protects a key aviation corridor fromevelopment which would be incompatible with the mission of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) in 29 Palms, CA.
The acquisition was made possible through public and private donations, MDLT’s land acquisition fund, partnership funding provided by the Department of the Navy on behalf of MCAGCC, and Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree, CA.
The acquisition protects a vital section of wildlife corridor and habitat that reaches beyond the northern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park, where animals must travel in order to survive.The Park maintained its support and commitment to the acquisition throughout the campaign. Curt Sauer,Superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park stated:
“The Mojave Desert Land Trust is our primary partner in conservation of park lands, having acquired over 21,000 acres in the Desert Parks, including Nolina Peak. Over two years ago, Regional Director, Jon Jarvis, confirmed the Park Service's interest in obtaining protected status for these 955 acres. We are happy that MDLT has been successful in their endeavor, and we look forward to working with them to add these lands to Joshua Tree.”
To complete the project, the Department of the Navy and MDLT inked a five-year Encroachment Protection Agreement to partner on land acquisition projects that mutually benefit MCAGCC’s encroachment protection strategies and the Land Trust’s mission to protect wildlife habitat and other lands with high conservation values. The Department of the Navy provided $431,000 to acquire conservation easements on the land, enabling the Land Trust to complete the first acquisition under the agreement. Jim Ricker, Assistant Chief of Staff, G5 Plans at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, spoke about the acquisition”
"The safeguarding of this property is a win-win for all. In these tough economic times, it helps preserve the jobs on the Marine base by protecting and preserving the mission of the base, as well as provides for pristine land to be here for our children and our grandchildren to enjoy."
In addition to the Department of the Navy and MDLT’s funds, Copper Mountain College (CMC) added $90,000 to the Quail Mountain Project to fulfill mitigation requirements from their Habitat Conservation Plan. The Quail Mountain project will preserve hundreds of acres of high density tortoise habitat that fulfills CMC’s requirement to acquire 30 acres of tortoise habitat.
Nancy Karl, Executive Director of Mojave Desert Land Trust, spoke about the partnerships and the 18-month campaign:
“This is a major victory for our partners, land trust members and for the protection of the Quail Mountain ecosystem. We congratulate and thank the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center and Copper Mountain College, along with every one of our Land Trust members, for their unwavering dedication to the project during the last eighteen months. Their commitment to preserving vital desert land ensures that future generations will experience the beautiful natural areas that we appreciate today. We look forward to ushering the land into the safe hands of Joshua Tree National Park for its permanent protection.”
John Simpson, Secretary and founding Board member of the Land Trust, added, “We have done something even greater than purchase 955 acres of land. We have proven that we can overcome great challenges and that great achievements can begin with small risks. In doing so, we have truly grown as an organization. I’m so proud of what we accomplished, and even prouder to know that the effects of our efforts will last forever.”
MDLT will announce a celebration for its members and partners in the near future. For information on the Quail Mountain Project or the Mojave Desert Land Trust, contact Nancy Karl, Executive Director, at 760-366-5440 or visit www.mojavedesertlandtrust.org.
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