Secret Urban Southern California Water Grab from Nevada County:
Garden Bar Dam Proposal

Remember the movie Chinatown?  This situation is a déjà vu!  A collection of Southern California urban towns are funding a study in SECRECY to build an enormous dam in a rural Grass Valley, California area that will flood historic ranches, Native American archeological sites and permanently protected conservation lands, through an act of eminent domain.  What's more, it will rob this community of any future growth potential.  It will completely annihilate the Bear River ecosystem forever.  This Southern California urban growth water grab is being pushed through without any consideration of the community that will suffer as a result and it's being done in secrecy.  We just want them to be public about their intentions at this point.  The public needs to know.   

---

Nevada County Land Trust Strategic Landscapes Fund

During the first two decades of NCLT’s history it has been given 22 conservation easements over nearly 5,000 acres of private land in Western Nevada County and into adjacent areas of Yuba and Sierra Counties, voluntarily by the landowners who remain residents on their land.  In addition, NCLT has been given 100 acres of land in fee title through donations or bequests from the landowners. In almost every situation, landowners have donated a perpetual Stewardship Fund to support the stewardship and legal defense of the conservation easement forever.    

Much of the landscapes in this region that would be “strategic” for conservation is held by landowners who are not wealthy and to whom the cost of the Stewardship Fund are insurmountable.  

By “strategic landscapes” we mean those lands that meet the following criteria:

• The natural habitat is particularly sensitive due to the presence of a special status species, and/or a decline in the growth or support of a species critical to our particular oak woodland or mixed conifer foothills environment.
• The existence of historic ranches which are part of the cultural heritage and economy of this community.
• An ecosystem complex that has emerged as a significant adaptation zone for the impact of climate change.
• Migratory corridors for species moving from the high Sierra to the central California valleys.
• Watershed and/or conveyance systems for high Sierra snowmelt as a part of a healthy California water resource for agriculture and for urban areas.
• Any of the above feature(s) coupled with an area that is under intense real estate development pressure due to proximity to the Sacramento/Roseville sprawl and existing or planned commute transit corridors.

The goal of the Strategic Landscapes Fund is to facilitate community-supported land conservation in region by creating a fund to assist landowners to conserve their lands.  The NCLT Board of Directors has authorized the deposit of “seed” money of nearly $75k from donated endowments earmarked for conservation lands acquisition, to move the process along.  Our need is to increase size of fund through private donations.  

It is a well-accepted fact that real estate values on properties adjacent to permanently protected open space go up.  It is desirable, especially in a rural community, to live near protected view corridors, where wildlife migrate, where the watershed is healthy and the landscape will never be developed.  Please help protect important landscapes in your neighborhood or in areas that feel special to you.  If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation earmarked specifically for this fund, please contact Marty Coleman-Hunt at 530-272-5994 x3.