Mt. Shasta Headwaters Project receives $9.09 million grant

Photo by Don Harris

On Thursday, California’s Wildlife Conservation Board voted unanimously to approve $9.09 million in grant funding for the Pacific Forest Trust to acquire a conservation easement on the first phase of the Mt. Shasta Headwaters project, encompassing twenty square miles of working forests that surround the historic mill town of McCloud.

Working in partnership with the Hancock Timber Resource Company, the “Town” block’s 12,800 acres will be joined by an additional 5,344 acres in phase two of the project. The combined total of 18,100 acres will represent PFT’s largest conservation project to date—and will keep key watersheds and wildlife corridors healthy and intact.

While this grant doesn’t complete PFT’s work to finance the entire project, it does represent the lion’s share of the needed investment for this significant easement, and a major milestone in conserving forests across the pristine McCloud River watershed, one of the major sources of California’s water for farms and people.

Home to the Pacific fisher, as well as 16 other special status plants and animals, these working forest conservation easements will stitch together the Shasta-Trinity National Forest with an existing 17,500-acre network of conservation easements. More than 2800 acres of sensitive habitats will be conserved, including 11 miles of fish-bearing steams, 51 miles of additional waterways and 78 cold-water springs.

The Mt. Shasta Headwaters project has earned the support of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors, Senator Beth Gaines, Assembly Member Brian Dahle and many others. Learn more about the McCloud forests and PFT’s work to permanently conserve them.