Bear Yuba Land Trust to Hold the Conservation Easement on 2,021 Acres of PG&E Lands in the Fordyce Lakes Area

The Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council (Stewardship Council) is a private, nonprofit foundation established in 2004 as part of the PG&E bankruptcy settlement was set up to ensure that its 140,000 acres of California's pristine watershed lands are conserved for the public good. This past year Bear Yuba Land Trust (formerly Nevada County Land Trust) has been working with the Stewardship Council to facilitate the permanent protection of more than 10,000 acres of land in the Bear River and Yuba River watersheds of Nevada and Yuba Counties.  Another 7,000 acres is located in adjacent areas of Placer County.

BYLT has been working with PG&E and potential qualified donees for their lands including Tahoe National Forest, CalFire, University of California, the Tsi Akim Maidu Tribe, the United Auburn Indian Community, Placer County Water Agency, Placer Land Trust and other stakeholders to identify the best fee title and conservation easement holders in this watershed. Once completed, the land trust will work with stakeholders to identify conservation options for those lands.  This is expected to begin in early 2012.

For an overview of the project, CLICK HERE.

In a first step toward this resolution the Stewardship Council has recommended that BYLT hold a conservation easement permanently protecting 2,021 of high elevation land around four lakes: Fordyce, Meadow, White Rock and Sterling Lakes.  PG&E will retain ownership of these lands. The Fordyce Lakes area provides outdoor recreation and important wildlife habitat in the remote, upper elevations of the northern Sierra Nevada. With an elevation range of 6,200 to 7,800 feet the reservoirs and surrounding lands form the headwaters region of the Drum-Spaulding Canal that is utilized by Nevada and Placer Counties as both a domestic and agricultural water resource. 

The land is surrounded by a checkerboard mixture of private lands and Tahoe National Forest with open space represented in the forests and barren rock covered mountain slopes typical of the Sierra Nevada. The land is diverse range of high elevation wildlife and plant habitats including special status species American marten, Pacific fisher, mountain yellow-legged frog, and California wolverine. In addition, willow flycatchers are known to breed in the region and California spotted owl. There is potential for late successional forests within and adjacent to the parcels, and special status plant species found in the area include fellfields claytonia, starved daisy, and Donner Pass buckwheat.

Recreation opportunities include backcountry camping, fishing, hiking, hunting, cross-country skiing, OHV use, and boating. A few formal recreation facilities are including a number of developed campgrounds, day use areas, and boat ramps. An informal whitewater boat put-in for the 12-mile Fordyce Creek Run (Class IV/V) is located about 1/8 of a mile below the Fordyce Dam. In There is an informal trail along the northern shoreline of Fordyce Lake. Meadow Lake also offers the Meadow Knoll Group Camp. This group camp was originally built as the staging area for the annual Sierra Trek, a four-wheel-drive event that attracts over 1,000 participants. The remote White Rock Lake at an elevation of 7,800 feet is located near the Pacific Crest Trail and the Mt.Lola Trail. 

The Fordyce Lake unit contains six PG&E Timber Management Units (TMUs) totaling 899 timbered acres. Forest resources are primarily mixed conifer stands at lower elevations, transitioning into lodgepole pine/fir forest, and sub-alpine forest stands at higher elevations.  TMUs are managed for sustained timber production, while at the same time recognizing that protection and uses of other resources and facilities may exclude sustained timber harvesting as the best use of these forests.

The Washoe are historic inhabitants of the area, and evidence of older Native American settlement is present in the Fordyce Lake area. Five archeological sites (four historic and one prehistoric) have been found, and several petroglyphs. The historic mining town of Meadow Lake Township is located nearby; while no structures from the township have survived, some remnant mining equipment and features may remain in the area.

The Fordyce Lake unit will be preserved and enhanced by focusing on biological and cultural resource values in this scenic location in the Sierra Nevada.  This includes protecting the legacy of Native Americans and early pioneers as well as important plant and wildlife resources. In addition, low-intensity recreation opportunities will be enhanced in this primitive, remote location.

The goal of the Stewardship Council Land Conservation Program is to preserve and/or enhance the existing environmental and economic benefits of the watershed lands. There are six defined Beneficial Public Values that form the foundation of this effort, including (1) protection of the natural habitat of fish, wildlife and plants; (2) preservation of open space; (3) outdoor recreation by the general public; (4) sustainable forestry; (5) agricultural uses; and (6) historic values. 

For more information on the Stewardship Council and the lands available for donation and protection, or to provide public comment visit www.stewardshipcouncil.org