About Us Newsletter Events Project Map Donor List Links Contact Us Home		East Sacramento County Oak Woodland Legacy Area (Deer Creek Hills) Take a Virtual Tour of the East Sacramento County Oak Woodland Legacy Area - click here Take a Hiking Tour of Deer Creek Hills see the events calendar for the tour schedule You can help us manage habitat and grazing, and to develop future public uses on this valuable resource by making a pledge today! SVC now faces the challenge of raising $3 million both to complete the management plan which will identify and develop future public use of the site, and to provide an endowment to help manage the site. You can help us acquire this valuable resource by making a pledge today! Download the Pledge Form as a Word document as a PDF file Adobe Acrobat Reader is necessary to view PDF files. Download Adobe's free Acrobat Reader by clicking on the button Where is the East Sacramento County Oak Woodland Legacy Area? Click Here for Map Read the recent Press Release Where is Deer Creek Hills? Deer Creek Hills is located in Sacramento County, 8 miles south of US Highway 50 and the City of Folsom on the way to Lake Tahoe, just before you reach the El Dorado line. It wraps around the north of Rancho Murieta. The property has over 4,000 acres of rangeland, oak woodlands, grasslands and seasonal creeks. How much money is needed to purchase the property? We have a $14 million fundraising goal. Funds will be used for the purchase, stewardship and staffing expenses relating to the acquisition. We have an option to purchase the Deer Creek Hills property for $11.4 million. Where's the money going to come from? We have received $5.75 million in commitments from public agencies, private foundations, corporations and individuals, to allow us to purchase Phase I (2,054 acres). We now face a $5.63 million fundraising challenge to purchase Phase II (2,008 acres), and a drive for stewardship funds. Is Deer Creek Hills in danger of being developed? Yes. Sacramento County voters rejected a proposal to develop the site in November of 2000. But, that provides no guarantee the property will remain as open space. The City of Folsom, Sacramento County and El Dorado County are fast developing and surrounding the Deer Creek Hills area. In addition, development speculators have purchased land on much of the remaining open space area south of US Highway 50 and the City of Folsom near the Deer Creek Hills area. This is our last best chance to protect this property as open space and to preserve ranching and a rural lifestyle in the East County and Sloughhouse areas. Why should our community purchase Deer Creek Hills? The community created the opportunity to purchase and protect Deer Creek Hills after Sacramento County voters rejected development of the site in November of 2000. Sacramento Valley Conservancy is working to purchase Deer Creek Hills to preserve the natural resources on the site (oak woodlands, grasslands, seasonal creeks), to continue the historic grazing use on the property as a management tool, and to provide public access compatible with those resources. The Conservancy will own a majority interest in the property and will manage the property. As managers, the Conservancy will continue to graze the property and will use the grazing revenues for management. The Conservancy plans to provide docent tours on the property until a management plan is developed and adopted by the community which may identify other future uses and sources of revenue to manage those uses. The target date for completion of a management plan is 3 years from acquisition of the property. Why is the preservation of Deer Creek Hills important? The 4,000-acre site provides the following benefits: Preserves ranching and rural nature of this area of California's Central Valley. Provides a recreational and natural resource area. Preserves rare, native California blue oak woodlands. Provides an important link to the efforts of The Nature Conservancy and partners at the Cosumnes River Preserve and the efforts of the American River Conservancy in El Dorado County to preserve the upper Cosumnes River. Easy educational access for area children to local natural science and cultural resources. Letters/Resolutions of Support Available: The Nature Conservancy, Cosumnes-Delta Project The California Rangeland Trust County of Sacramento, Planning Department Sacramento Open Space Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates Sacramento Local Conservation Corps Rancho Murieta Association League of Women Voters Environmental Council of Sacramento Sacramento Area Council of Governments Sacramento Archeological Society U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer City of Folsom Select Fund Committee for Deer Creek Hills: Roger Niello, Co-Chair Illa Collin, Co-Chair Robert Matsui, US Congressmember Deborah Ortiz, State Senator Anthony Pescetti, Assemblymember Darrell Steinberg, Assemblymember Heather Fargo, Mayor of Sacramento Steve Cohn, Councilmember, Sacramento Dave Jones, Councilmember, Sacramento Sandy Sheedy, Councilmember, Sacramento Ray Tretheway, Councilmember, Sacramento Jimmie Yee, Councilmember, Sacramento Funding Partners: Soderquist Fund, Sac Regional Foundation California Native Plant Society Wildlife Conservation Board County of Sacramento US Fish & Wildlife Service US Environmental Protection Agency (CVPIA Habitat Restoration Program) Trust for Public Land US Bureau of Reclamation (Central Valley Project Conservation Program) A. Teichert & Son, Inc Sacramento Audubon Society CA State Resources Agency/Caltrans (EEMP) City of Folsom Click here to download a Word Document with the above information.
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