News
Release
Media Contact:
Aimee Rutledge
Sacramento Valley Conservancy
916.492.0908 or 916.425.5879
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TWO-YEAR OPEN SPACE QUEST COMPLETED IN EAST COUNTY
Second Half of Deer Creek Hills Purchase Complete Sacramento, Calif. – October 3, 2003.
Three years after Sacramentans voted not to develop it and two years after launching an effort to acquire it, the Sacramento Valley Conservancy announced the successful purchase of the last 2,008 acres of the Deer Creek Hills property, the final victory in the nonprofit organization's effort to preserve more than 4,000 acres of oak woodlands and grasslands in East Sacramento.
"Working against the clock through two years of fundraising, the Sacramento Conservancy has succeeded once again in fulfilling the community's will by completing the purchase of Deer Creek Hills," said county supervisor Roger Niello, co-chair of the Select Fund Committee for Deer Creek Hills. "The Conservancy's acquisition preserves land that will provide recreational and scenic opportunities for generations of Sacramentans."
SVC will continue the ranching traditions of the area by entering into a cattle grazing lease with the family that has grazed the site for over 40 years. In addition, the agreement between SVC and its funding partners requires development of a management plan over the next three years to determine long-term uses. Habitat preservation, continued ranching and public recreation are the main objectives of the plan. SVC currently leads docent tours of the property every fourth Saturday from January through May and hosts special-request hikes for groups, depending on the availability of docents.
"At Deer Creek Hills, less than a mile from developed roads and only 15 minutes from urban areas, you stand surrounded by gnarled blue oaks, rolling hills, and views of the valley and Sierras," stated Hal Taines, seller of Deer Creek Hills to SVC. "This is some of the most beautiful land in the Sacramento area and SVC has saved the opportunity for our children and their children to be as impressed by it as I was when I first saw it over 30 years ago."
SVC signed an option agreement to purchase Deer Creek Hills in October 2001, and over the next two years raised $11.4 million from public agencies, private foundations, corporate donors and over 400 individuals to enable the purchase of the over 4,000 acre Deer Creek Hills preserve.
"Deer Creek Hills protects open space at the eastern edge of Sacramento in a way that makes sense, by preserving some of the fast-disappearing oak woodlands along the Sierra foothills," said Al Wright, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Board, the largest single contributor to the Deer Creek Hills project at $4 million.
SVC now faces the challenge of raising an additional $3 million to provide an endowment for management of the property, support docent-led hikes, and develop a management plan as well as future uses.
"Deer Creek Hills has the potential to add a regional treasure on the scale of the American River Parkway," stated Matt Mahood, President and CEO of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, which recently named SVC as one of the top small nonprofits in the six-county region. "The Metro Chamber's leadership has strongly supported the conservancy's efforts to add Deer Creek Hills to our open space infrastructure, permanently enhancing our region's desirability and quality of life."
Aimee Rutledge, executive director of SVC, stressed the need to get to work immediately on raising funds for the management endowment for Deer Creek Hills, as well as to continue SVC's other land acquisition efforts.
"We've
set the cornerstone on Sacramento's open space future by
completing the purchase of Deer Creek Hills; now we need continued community
support to insure good, sound management of the site, and to move forward
on other land acquisition efforts of tremendous value to the people
of Sacramento," declared Rutledge.
SVC
owns a majority interest in the Deer Creek Hills land and will manage
the site, while Sacramento County owns a minority interest. California
State Parks also owns a part of the property. SVC's other funding partners
for the purchase include the Wildlife Conservation Board, the US Bureau
of Reclamation's Central Valley Project Conservation Program, the US
Fish and Wildlife Service's Central Valley Project Improvement Act Habitat
Restoration Program, CALFED, CALTRANS, the California State Resources
Agency, A. Teichert & Son, Inc., the Soderquist Fund of the Sacramento
Regional Foundation, the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation-on behalf
of the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Trust for Public Land, the City of Folsom, the
Sacramento Audubon Society, and the California Native Plant Society.
About the Sacramento Valley Conservancy:
The Sacramento Valley Conservancy is private, nonprofit land trust founded in 1990 on the two basic principles that open lands are necessary for quality of life and that we must save land today so future generations will enjoy its benefits. SVC buys land only from willing sellers, and works cooperatively with private landowners and public and private funding sources. More information about SVC, including the East Sacramento County Blue Oak Hills project, our Sacramento Prairie Vernal Pool Area, the Dry Creek Parkway, and other projects can be found on the organization's website at www.sacramentovalleyconservancy.org.
Need more information? Click here
You
can help us acquire this valuable resource
by making a pledge today!
SVC is seeking pledges for
at least half the project cost, $5.6 million.
Download the Pledge Form
as a Word document
as
a PDF file
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Sacramento Valley Conservancy
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