Diverse Northwest California Public Lands Ripe for Conservation

The abundant and diverse nature of northwest California features so much more than the region’s renowned redwood forests and rugged coastline. In fact, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), through its Arcata and Redding field offices, oversees 382,000 acres (about half the area of Yosemite National Park) of some of the most diverse, unspoiled land in the country—oak woodlands, winding rivers and streams, and habitat for a wide diversity of wildlife, including bald eagles, salmon, steelhead, and sandhill cranes. These lands hold cultural significance for many Native American Tribes, provide clean drinking water for nearby communities, and sequester and store carbon to help limit climate change.

The BLM periodically develops resource management plans that outline stewardship of an area for the ensuing 20 or so years. In September, the Arcata and Redding field offices released their latest combined draft plan—the Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan (NCIP)—and the BLM invited the public to comment. The draft update includes a strong—and welcome—emphasis on conservation, which the field offices should retain in their final version.

Why it matters

Since these plans were last updated in the mid-1990s, experts have learned a great deal about the devastating impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss on our lands, forests, and waters—and about how to address these threats. Forests cover roughly 27 million acres of California, and federal land management agencies oversee more than half of those lands. That means the BLM has significant influence on this area.

State leaders in California have already adopted a forward-thinking plan to protect 30% of the state’s lands and near-shore ocean habitats. Through the NCIP, the BLM is now working to align its management of protected areas to count towards California’s goals. Likewise, many of the draft plan’s management directives align with the nature-based solutions to climate change identified in California’s Climate Smart Lands Strategy.

These areas are also vital to generating revenue for the eight counties included in the NCIP (Butte, Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity). In a 2017 ECOnorthwest report commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts, researchers found that visitors participating in “quiet recreation”—such as hunting, camping, hiking, and mountain biking—in the lands overseen by the two field offices generated $50.2 million in total economic output annually, including $41.2 million in direct spending on those activities within 50 miles of recreation sites, and supported more than 570 local jobs.

Notable conservation gains and protections

CalWild

The management plan could advance new protections for ecologically important areas using several different conservation approaches.

Wilderness

English Ridge in Mendocino County features slopes forested with ancient Douglas firs and some of the greatest diversity of oak trees in the state. The Interior Department, BLM’s parent agency, recognized this area as among the “most compelling candidates for immediate action” of special places managed by the BLM. The NCIP draft recommends protecting English Ridge as one of several wilderness study areas (WSAs), which BLM defines as natural and undeveloped areas with outstanding opportunities for solitude; WSA protection makes an area eligible for congressional designation as wilderness. Gilham Butte in southern Humboldt County is also slated to be a new WSA, and the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness, which is north of Covelo, and Trinity Alps Wilderness, which lies between Eureka and Redding, would be expanded under the NCIP.

Areas of Critical Environmental Concern

The NCIP also could designate up to 26 Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), places where the BLM believes special attention is needed to protect historical, cultural, or scenic values; vulnerable habitat and wildlife; or other natural resources.

Andy Fitzpatrick

One example is the Sacramento River Bend Area, which is home to salmon and steelhead trout, sandhill cranes, and bald eagles, and Jed’s Overlook, which offers views of Mount Lassen and the Trinity Alps. Another area that could be designated as an ACEC is Beegum Creek Gorge, southwest of Redding. This area, known for its swimming, fishing, cross-country hiking, and camping is surrounded by oak woodlands, grasslands, and chaparral, and it is home to ospreys and bald eagles. Clear Creek Greenway in Shasta County also could gain protection. It currently functions as a city park for the communities of Anderson and Redding, with thousands of people enjoying its trails every year.

Wild and scenic rivers

Rivers designated as "wild and scenic" are protected from activities, such as dam building, that would significantly harm fish habitat, scenic values, recreation, or a river’s other natural attributes. The NCIP could identify at least 135 miles of streams as eligible for wild and scenic designation. These include Eden Creek, about 60 miles northwest of Fort Bragg, which flows into Elk Creek and is a major tributary of the Middle Fork Eel River. The Eel River hosts more than a third of California’s remaining summer-run steelhead trout population, and many of the river’s tributaries provide habitat for salmon and steelhead. Bald eagles and the world’s most widespread distribution of Sargent cypress are found here. Further north, Lacks Creek is an oasis amid areas that are being heavily logged and developed. The meadows, streams, and oak woodlands are popular with hikers and mountain bikers, making this area a prime candidate for administrative protection.

Communities in northwest California have benefited for years from the protection of these public lands, which resulted from collaboration between the nearby communities and local BLM leaders. Pew encourages the BLM’s Arcata and Redding field offices to approve a final plan that includes strong new conservation designations, including ACECs and wild and scenic rivers, so that future generations can also experience the solitude and wildness of northwest California’s great outdoors.

Stay up to date on the plan at the BLM’s eplanning website

Andy Maggi works on The Pew Charitable Trusts’ U.S. conservation project.