A win for the Esselen Tribe and Big Sur
Amidst the world's southernmost naturally occurring redwoods and within earshot of the waves of the Big Sur coastline, Western Rivers Conservancy has been working in partnership with the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County since 2015 to conserve two properties on the Little Sur River: the Adler Ranch, which we conveyed to the tribe in 2020, and the Pico Blanco property.
An important central California stream, the Little Sur flows just over 25 miles from its headwaters in the Santa Lucia Mountains, within the Ventana Wilderness, down into a deep, redwood-shaded valley and into the Pacific, just north of Andrew Molera State Park. The river winds through an area that provides excellent habitat for imperiled wildlife, including California spotted owl, endangered California condor and threatened California red-legged frog, as well as a wealth of other animals.
The Little Sur is considered the Central Coast’s most important and pristine spawning stream for threatened South-Central California Coast steelhead. Tens of thousands of steelhead used to return to this stretch of the California coast. Today, it is likely that fewer than 100 fish return to the Little Sur each year. Combined, our efforts at Pico Blanco and Eagle Peak will conserve 2.3 miles of vitally important habitat for this precious species.
Steelhead, Redwoods and Sacred Lands
In 2020, thanks to funding from the California Natural Resources Agency, we conserved the near-pristine 1,199-acre Adler Ranch property by conveying the lands to the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County. Renamed Eagle Peak by the Esselen Tribe, the property sits at the edge of the Los Padres National Forest and includes roughly a mile of the Little Sur River and majestic stands of old-growth redwood trees. Our efforts preserved important upland grasslands, oak woodlands and chaparral and madrone forest and ensured permanent habitat connectivity between the ocean and the crest of the Santa Lucia Mountains, all in an area of critical importance to coastal wildlife.
Building on this success, we began working with the tribe in 2019 to conserve the 327-acre Pico Blanco property. In late 2024, we plan to convey the lands to the Esselen Tribe. The property is just over a mile upstream from Eagle Peak and contains 1.3 miles of the Little Sur as well as one of the largest stands of old-growth redwoods on the Central Coast. Pico Blanco is home to numerous imperiled animals and plants, and the stretch of the Little Sur that runs through the property provides rare river access within a highly incised canyon. Because of its outstanding resource values and unique river access, the property was used by the Esselen for millennia prior to European contact.
Reconnecting the tribe with these two properties will be a big step forward for fish, wildlife and ancient redwoods. The lands are sacred to the Esselen People and will be now available to tribal members for traditional ceremonies, native plant gathering and repatriation of tribal members. At Eagle Peak, the tribe plans to offer docent-led tours and activities for school children and the general public. For the Esselen People, for the area’s fish and wildlife, for the redwoods and oaks, and for the Little Sur River itself, these two projects are landmark conservation successes on the Big Sur Coast.
