
Bear Valley Ranch
Colusa
County
Optimizing grazing;
protecting wildflower habitat
Working in partnership with the American Land Conservancy
and Gabrielsen Cattle Company, California Rangeland Trust acquire title to a
12,893-acre conservation easement on the Bear Valley Ranch, fee ownership of
which was purchased by the ranching company as a conservation buyer. When the transaction closed in the summer of
2001, California Rangeland Trust assumed responsibility for holding and
monitoring the easement, which conserves productive rangeland in harmony with
the preservation of some of the premier wildflower habitats and scenic
viewsheds in Northern California. A management plan optimizes grazing
production by employing grazing rotation techniques for the best utilization
and conservation of forage and to control exotic weeds. Spectacular wildflower populations are
protected forever. Major contributors to
the Bear Valley project included the California
Wildlife Conservation Board, California Department of Transportation and the
David and Lucile Packard Foundation.