| Dear Jack, |
We are excited to share with you another announcement about the Montgomery Woods Initiative—and this is a big one. The League today announced that it has secured an opportunity to purchase a conservation easement on the 3,862-acre Weger Ranch. Weger Ranch shares a 1.25-mile border with Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve. This conservation easement will enable the League to buffer the old-growth redwoods in the park and expand redwood conservation in this vital corner of the coast redwood range.
The easement marks the League’s latest effort in fulfilling its Montgomery Woods Initiative. The Initiative, first announced in September, began with the purchase of the 453-acre Atkins Place property and continues in partnership with California State Parks to enhance visitor amenities within the old-growth grove of Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve. The transaction announced today would also include the purchase of Rocky Ridge, an 80-acre portion of Weger Ranch that would be incorporated into the Reserve.
Learn more about this terrific project
In total, the League is assembling a conserved landscape of more than 11,500 acres in the upper reaches of the Big River watershed. Protection at this scale contributes to California’s 30x30 goals for landscape protection, carbon storage, and biodiversity.
Under the easement, the owners would retain property ownership, but the land would be forever protected from subdivision, development, and aggressive logging, regardless of who owns it or how many times the property changes hands.
Funding already secured for the $14 million Weger Ranch easement includes a $9.5 million grant from Cal Fire’s State Forest Legacy program and a $3.42 million grant from the State Coastal Conservancy. The League must raise $1 million in private philanthropy in order to complete the purchase and protect the ranch’s redwoods in perpetuity.
The League is swinging into action to protect the incredible forests of Weger Ranch. Thanks for being by our side as we work to do something special in this vital region of the coast redwood range. |
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Sincerely,
Save the Redwoods League |
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