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Sierra Crest

Conservation-conversant locals know the Sierra Nevada area has a checkered past, thanks to historic land-ownership patterns. The same policies that allowed the railroads to expand westward-acquiring alternate square miles of land along the way-now make for complicated conservation and management. In spring 2010 The Trust for Public Land and the Northern Sierra Partnership marked a milestone in a large project that knits together habitat and public access over approximately 45 square miles of the High Sierra.

Located in the highest-elevation headwaters of three major rivers—the Middle Yuba, the Little Truckee, and the Feather-nearly 1,200 acres are now protected through the first-ever conservation easement acquired from Sierra Pacific Industries.

With $1.8 million in funding from the Northern Sierra Partnership, TPL was able to acquire the easement for stewardship by the Truckee Donner Land Trust. Ultimately, more than 7,000 acres of checkerboard lands on either side of the crest of the northern Sierra Nevada will be protected in two more phases.

The property will continue to be managed sustainably for timber harvesting. The Truckee Donner Land Trust will work with the Forest Service and property owner Sierra Pacific Industries to develop trails and enhance recreation opportunities on these parcels.

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