About 11,000 acres of forest and watershed, located amid some of the North State's most recognizable landmarks ― including the Trinity River, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Eddy and the Pacific Crest Trail ― will be set aside for conservation and to protect one of California's prime water sources.
The Pacific Forest Trust, which has thousands of acres of landholdings and conservation easements in the North State, said it recently obtained another easement on numerous sections of land surrounding the upper Trinity River.
The conservation easement will protect the upper Trinity River watershed, an important component of the water supply throughout California, according to officials with the forest trust and the California Wildlife Conservation Board.
While the term "watersheds" may seem like jargon used by forest managers and land resource specialists, watersheds are important to anyone in California who likes water, said Laurie Wayburn, president of the forest trust.
"We all drink water. Where does our water come from? The vast majority of where that water comes from is off of forests, like 60-plus percent. And so if we want to drink water, we need to protect watersheds. If we want to have farms, we need to protect watersheds," Wayburn said.
The 11,000-acre headwaters project includes 4.5 miles of the Trinity River and more than 50 miles of tributaries that feed into the river, according to the trust. The Trinity River supplies water to the federal Central Valley Project ― which includes Shasta and Trinity lakes ― which then provides water to cities and farms throughout California, the state with the most productive farmland in the nation.
The forest trust purchased the property from Michigan-California Timber Company. The trust then transferred ownership of the property to the Watershed Research and Training Center in Weaverville.
The California Wildlife Conservation Board awarded the pacific trust $12 million toward the project and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provided another $2 million grant toward the purchase of the property.
HUD provided the grant money because of the project's local economic benefits, according to the trust.
The conservation easement includes managing the property for climate resilience, habitat enhancement, carbon sequestration, reducing wildfire risk, recreation, and ensuring water for fish, agriculture, and communities "while generating jobs in the woods and other benefits for this economically disadvantaged region," according to the forest trust.
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"This watershed has even more value because, as you know, we are experiencing a much hotter world. In California, a hotter world means it's drier, and when water falls, it can often fall in a very intense way. When your forests are in good condition, it really helps with that. It holds more water. It releases it more slowly. If you have snow, it'll hold snow longer," Wayburn said.
She continued: "All of those things depend upon the health of the watershed. This project conserves the watershed, that it will be in good functioning condition."
The conserved area also is home to a wide variety of plants and animals and more than 40 species that are either rare or threatened, she said.
The Pacific Forest Trust has been working on conservation easements in the North State for decades.
The agency completed a 7,500 conservation easement on the northeast slopes of Mt. Shasta earlier this year. The nonprofit has been involved with conservation easements on more than 44,000 acres of forest land in Siskiyou County during that time, the trust said.
Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS . Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today !
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Trinity River project in Siskiyou touted as water protection for all of California
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