Shasta Land Trust announces the successful donation of two properties in Tehama County to the United States Forest Service (USFS). The properties were purchased from a willing seller in September of 2007, and will now be added to the USFS Ishi Wilderness Area. The completion of the donation represents the conclusion of over three years of coordinated efforts by the previous owners of the parcels, the US Forest Service, and Shasta Land Trust. These properties total 648 acres and will be managed by the USFS to protect their many natural resources.
Located in eastern Tehama County, these two properties were bordered by the existing Ishi Wilderness Area, which will now be expanded to include them. The parcels are rugged and difficult to access, but include land of historic and biological importance.
These remote parcels include portions of Deer Creek canyon and Big Dry Creek canyon. The Ishi Wilderness Area is one of the lowest elevation Wilderness Areas in the continental US, and supports a diverse array of wildlife and plant species. It was also on some of these lands that the remaining members of the Yahi Native American tribe were able to survive into the previous century.
Shasta Land Trust is a local non-profit conservation organization, formed in Redding in 1998. Working only with willing landowners who are motivated to conserve their property, Shasta Land Trust has helped conserve over 16,000 acres of land in this region. Support for Shasta Land Trust is derived from its many supporters and members.
Protection of these two parcels was part of a larger project that involved several other partnering organizations including the Northern California Regional Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy, landowners with a desire to conserve their properties, and funding agencies.
The properties will now be owned and managed as part of the Ishi Wilderness Area, in compliance with the Wilderness Act of 1964. Shasta Land Trust was able secure funding and purchase the properties so that they could be added to the federally protected area, playing a critical role in this historic land transaction. The properties will continue to support native flora and fauna, and will remain open of any development for generations to come.
Media Contact: Ben Miles, Executive Director; 241-7886; bmiles@shastalandtrust.org
