Select Conservation Easements

The McCloud Project creates the first forest conservation easement with a major commercial timber company in California. It protects 15 square miles of forestland in the heart of the state’s “wood-basket” where increasing development threatens the integrity of the forested headwaters of the Sacramento River.

In addition to preventing all development, the WFCE protects water quality and important fish and wildlife habitat, promotes sustainable forestry and provides recreational access to the popular McCloud Falls and Pacific Coast Trail. The conserved forestlands will remain in private stewardship, continuing to provide jobs to the region and quality timber products to consumers.

The McCloud Project is a historic public-private partnership between the Pacific Forest Trust, landowner Bascom Pacific, their forest managers Forest Systems and the project funders: the California Wildlife Conservation Board, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, Wal-Mart and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.

Twining Ranch
Olive Twining and her three daughters love their ranch in the oak-covered hills above Ukiah, California. The land has been in the family since Mrs. Twining and her late husband, Howard, bought it in 1957. Cattle graze on the rich grass and wildlife finds refuge in the groves and streams. Eight species of oak grow on the property, including the increasingly rare blue oak and oracle oak, a local sub-species.

Valley View Angus Ranch
In the 1860s, Arthur Strang's grandparents were among the first settlers in the high, wide Sierra Valley of northeastern California. Now, 140 years later, the 1,840-acre Valley View Angus Ranch is sure to be around for hundreds more, thanks to a conservation easement granted by "Artie" Strang shortly before his death in 1998.