Keeping the Blue Ridge undeveloped and wild

New national recreation area would protect a Northern California treasure

Do you know the Blue Ridge Snow Mountain region?

Less than 100 miles north of the Bay Area, this largely intact mosaic of wild lands and rural working landscapes is a critical long-term movement corridor for many species of wildlife, and the center of a planetary biological hotspot for plant diversity.

River-runners know Cache Creek as one of the most popular early-season whitewater streams, but for most of the rest of us in the Bay Area, this wild and beautiful area is a hidden landscape. It stretches from Putah Creek northwest for 80 miles to Snow Mountain Wilderness. Elevations range from 3,000 feet in the Blue Ridge to over 7,000 feet at Snow Mountain. There are nearly 500,000 acres of public lands managed by over 10 different federal, state, and local agencies.

This largely unfragmented landscape is a key element in managing our region's wildlands in response to climate change. The north-south orientation and the variety of elevation can allow plants and animals to migrate to cooler regions as our climate changes.

As Bay Area population continues to grow, how can we protect this area from the development pressures of ranchettes, subdivisions, and other land conversions that have already begun gnawing away? The Sierra Club is part of a team of organizations, under the leadership of Tuleyome, working to designate a Blue Ridge Snow Mountain National Conservation Area.

A spectacular region

North of San Francisco and west of Sacramento, the region includes substantial portions of Lake and Napa Counties, as well as areas of Yolo, Colusa, and Solano Counties. This vast expanse - the wild heart of California's inner Coast Range - is a mosaic of public lands including three wilderness areas, areas of critical environmental concern, Cache Creek State Wild and Scenic River, three University of California natural reserves, and state wildlife areas. Adjacent to the public lands are largely intact private lands of working ranches and farms that help to protect undeveloped watersheds.

Putah Creek, Cache Creek, and Stony Creek, the principal water sources, give this diverse place life. Oak woodlands, chaparral, grasslands, riparian habitat, and the rare and endemic plants found on serpentine soils, along with the lakes, ponds, creeks, and sheer size of the landscape, combine to sustain healthy populations of tule elk, black bear, mountain lion, bald and golden eagles, ospreys, bobcats, foxes, river otters, and many more species, including rare and endangered plants and animals. The ecological interactions among vegetation, wildlife, and water support a fertile working landscape. The natural environment also provides water for nearby urban populations and for agricultural operations in other areas.

Farmlands and ranches benefit from, and also play a critical role in sustaining, the regional landscape. These rural land uses represent a bulwark against residential and commercial development by providing the economic means for private land-owners to remain on the land in a manner that relies on rather than destroys the natural environment.

Public agencies, conservation and recreation interests, and private landowners have been partnering for more than a decade to better manage the public areas, and to support the working lands.

Threatened by development

The Blue Ridge Snow Mountain Region is threatened by encroaching development. Applications for new sprawl subdivisions, along with the development of estate homes on acreage that could still be agriculturally productive, are spawning new roads and demands for public services better suited to urban areas. Such developments cause the destruction of important habitat areas and threaten biodiversity, as well as decreasing farmland.

The Sacramento and San Francisco metropolitan areas are expected to add millions of new residents within the next 10 years, further fueling the development engine. The risk is that this region, which feeds and quenches the thirst of nearby urban populations as well as nurturing their souls with access to nature, will itself become urbanized.

A national conservation area on public lands

Designation by Congress as a national conservation area (NCA) will provide a framework to better coordinate the management of public lands across the landscape, making it easier for farmers and ranchers to work with adjacent public landowners. National recognition as an NCA will also assist in bringing conservation.

Till now the Blue Ridge Snow Mountain Region has not had the visibility to compete with areas like the Santa Monica Mountains or Lake Tahoe for state and federal resources. For example, the state's recent $5.4 billion park bond contained no earmarked funds for conservation or recreational facilities in the region. Formal recognition will make it easier to obtain state and federal funds for conservation and environmental stewardship, to support ongoing restoration and enhancement projects, and to develop a recreation program for the entire region that provides access while ensuring protection of environmental resources.

With an NCA designation:

• there will be a formal name for this specific geographic area;
• Congress will acknowledge the local and national importance of this region;
• a Public Advisory Committee will be formed to provide official public input;
• a coordinated multi-agency management plan for the public lands within the region will be developed, allowing for protection of ecological resources on a landscape level and for region-wide management of public recreational use.

Private lands, including water rights that adhere to the land, will not be included or affected in any way by an NCA designation, but an NCA will give land-owners better opportunities for input on the management of neighboring public lands, including a coherent approach to landscape management that better addresses regulatory issues that may threaten the sustainability of agriculture. Local and state governments and agencies will also retain their decision-making authority.

The final boundaries of the NCA have not been determined but they will be based upon biological and cultural assessments to encompass the region's unique natural environment, its cultural history, and its agricultural heritage.

The Blue Ridge Snow Mountain National Conservation Area is not yet a reality. Still, a growing number of organizations and individuals recognize the values in the region and are calling for its protection.

WhatYouCanDo

To be informed when your help is needed, contact or call (510)848-0800, ext. 316

To get more information about the Blue Ridge Snow Mountain National Conservation Area proposal, visit www.tuleyome.org

For extensive information about visiting the area, including trail maps and schedules of hikes, see the web sites of:

Capay Valley Hiking Club
Sierra Club Lake County Group
Berryessa Trails and Conservation