RED BLUFF, Calif. (December
10, 2024) — Western Rivers Conservancy conveyed 288
acres of Sacramento River frontage to the Bureau of Land Management yesterday,
conserving rare stands of mature cottonwood, oak and sycamore forests along
nearly a mile of the river, just upstream of Jelly’s Ferry Bridge.
Conservation of the Jelly’s Ferry
parcel will allow the BLM to restore riparian and side-channel habitats that
will benefit Chinook salmon, green sturgeon, winter steelhead and Pacific
lamprey. Western monarch butterflies, which rely on abundant milkweed found on
the property, as well as Swainson’s hawk and yellow-billed cuckoo, all stand to
benefit from the efforts.
WRC’s conveyance of the property
to the BLM will also open significant new access to the Sacramento River
in an area that is popular among anglers, hunters, hikers, boaters,
birdwatchers and others.
“This project was an incredible opportunity to protect a stretch
of the Sacramento River that still bears a resemblance to the wild,
free-flowing river it once was,” said Nelson Mathews, WRC’s Interim President. “Protecting
the last of these forests is a win for salmon and steelhead, for wildlife, and
for the countless people who venture out here to enjoy this stretch of the
river. We applaud the vision of the Bureau of Land Management to acquire and
restore this property, the latest success in its decades-long effort to
conserve this stretch of the Sacramento River and open it for all to enjoy.”
The Jelly’s Ferry parcel is on the
east bank of the Sacramento River, adjacent to the BLM-managed Oak Slough
Trailhead and surrounded by the 20,000-acre Sacramento River Bend Area
of Critical Environmental Concern and Extensive Recreation Management Area,
also managed by the agency.
Now that the BLM has taken the property into public
ownership, it will begin work on a management plan that will prioritize
restoration activities while preparing the property for public access. The BLM will
engage with all interested members of the public to explore options for access
and use.
“We are excited about the potential this property has for
public access and conservation,” said BLM Northern California District Manager
Dereck Wilson. “We look forward to hearing ideas about how this property will
complement our current public land management in the Sacramento River Bend.”
The parcel lies within a 56-mile corridor of largely intact
habitat between Redding and Red Bluff and will play an important role in
broader recovery efforts for anadromous fish in the Sacramento River. Bald
eagle, osprey, ringtail cat, pollinators and black-tailed deer from the East
Tehama Deer Herd will also benefit from riparian forest restoration on the
property.
The BLM has already conducted extensive off-channel habitat
restoration just north of the property, including rehabilitation of a large
historic slough and other habitats throughout the floodplain. Restoring
riparian habitat and native vegetation among existing old-growth forests will
help reconnect vital ecological linkages and reestablish habitat for juvenile
anadromous fish, neotropical migratory songbirds and a wealth of other wildlife.
Conveyance of the Jelly’s Ferry parcel to the BLM was made
possible by funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. LWCF is
America’s most important federal conservation and recreation program and has
protected wildlife habitat and open space, and improved outdoor recreation
opportunities, in nearly every state and every county in the U.S.
