Just outside the Placer County community of Auburn, one of the largest concentrations of private land along the North Fork American River was recently purchased for conservation, a deal that will soon open a new hiking trail to one of Northern California’s most popular summertime river destinations.
This spring, the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land and Placer Land Trust closed a $6.4 million deal to acquire 1,567 acres skirting the river’s western edge between Interstate 80 and the sprawling Auburn State Recreation Area. The property is consolidated in four large, undeveloped blocks of pine- and oak-studded hillsides covering 6 miles of river frontage, including along the banks of sparkling Lake Clementine. Though undeveloped, it had effectively walled off public access to a gorgeous area in the remote river canyon that is suitable for sunbathing and swimming.
The property’s longtime owners at one point had proposed building 97 homes there, but five years ago agreed instead to sell it to the Placer Land Trust. By adding to the tens of thousands of acres of contiguous protected open space east of Auburn, the deal is a win for conservationists who’d been eyeing the woodland parcels for two decades.
“This is a huge deal,” said Jeff Darlington, Placer Land Trust executive director. “Instead of being locked off by development, now we’ve got an area just a few minutes off the highway where you can access the river — finally.”
The North Fork American runs nearly parallel to I-80 through Auburn, but it’s tough to access for the nearly 1 million annual visitors to the Auburn State Recreation Area who come to boat, fish, paddle and camp. Its closest access points are on the east side of Lake Clementine and at the confluence of the north and middle forks of the American River — areas that become choked with traffic during the hot summer months.
The newly purchased land includes a trailhead just off I-80 in the Placer County town of Applegate with a dirt parking area where hikers and horseback riders can travel a 2-mile path to a secluded beach on the river’s western bank.
“I’m excited to have another access point that’ll hopefully ease the congestion at the lake and the confluence,” said Kate Nitta, a stand-up paddleboarder who lives in Sacramento and sits on the board of the Placer Land Trust. “We always need more recreational space here. Let’s not turn it all into houses.”
The property was long owned by Sacramento’s Tsakopoulos real estate development family, whose company is one of the state’s largest landowners, according to the Trust for Public Land.
Placer Land Trust had been working to buy the land for the past 20 years and was able to cobble together the purchase price with help from the Trust for Public Land as well as a grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund program. The land was transferred to the Bureau of Land Management this month.
In a statement, former landowner Angelo Tsakopoulos said his family is “very happy with this conservation outcome.” “This land, the river and the lake are special, and we’ve enjoyed seeing wildlife thrive here,” he said. “We’re pleased to know this land and the trail on it will be open to public access and recreation under BLM ownership.”
On a recent visit to the trailhead parking area, a billboard-size “Private Property” sign staked into the dirt and pocked with bird shot warned visitors away. Unfazed, a dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle roared down the trail a stone’s throw from the lot.
How exactly the area could be upgraded or improved isn’t yet clear. However, “the land acquisition is intended to provide new trails and access to the river,” according to Philip Oviatt, public affairs officer for the Bureau of Land Management’s Central California District.
The property’s 5 miles of trails are likely to be open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, but probably not dirt bikers and off-roaders, Darlington said. He’d like to see the ominous Private Property sign replaced by an interpretive kiosk and maybe a restroom at the trailhead — something more welcoming for river-goers eager to explore a new corner of the Sierra foothills.
“Instead of 97 homeowners being able to enjoy it, now everyone can,” he said.
Read original article and see more photos in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper HERE.
Article by Gregory Thomas: [email protected]
This spring, the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land and Placer Land Trust closed a $6.4 million deal to acquire 1,567 acres skirting the river’s western edge between Interstate 80 and the sprawling Auburn State Recreation Area. The property is consolidated in four large, undeveloped blocks of pine- and oak-studded hillsides covering 6 miles of river frontage, including along the banks of sparkling Lake Clementine. Though undeveloped, it had effectively walled off public access to a gorgeous area in the remote river canyon that is suitable for sunbathing and swimming.
The property’s longtime owners at one point had proposed building 97 homes there, but five years ago agreed instead to sell it to the Placer Land Trust. By adding to the tens of thousands of acres of contiguous protected open space east of Auburn, the deal is a win for conservationists who’d been eyeing the woodland parcels for two decades.
“This is a huge deal,” said Jeff Darlington, Placer Land Trust executive director. “Instead of being locked off by development, now we’ve got an area just a few minutes off the highway where you can access the river — finally.”
The North Fork American runs nearly parallel to I-80 through Auburn, but it’s tough to access for the nearly 1 million annual visitors to the Auburn State Recreation Area who come to boat, fish, paddle and camp. Its closest access points are on the east side of Lake Clementine and at the confluence of the north and middle forks of the American River — areas that become choked with traffic during the hot summer months.
The newly purchased land includes a trailhead just off I-80 in the Placer County town of Applegate with a dirt parking area where hikers and horseback riders can travel a 2-mile path to a secluded beach on the river’s western bank.
“I’m excited to have another access point that’ll hopefully ease the congestion at the lake and the confluence,” said Kate Nitta, a stand-up paddleboarder who lives in Sacramento and sits on the board of the Placer Land Trust. “We always need more recreational space here. Let’s not turn it all into houses.”
The property was long owned by Sacramento’s Tsakopoulos real estate development family, whose company is one of the state’s largest landowners, according to the Trust for Public Land.
Placer Land Trust had been working to buy the land for the past 20 years and was able to cobble together the purchase price with help from the Trust for Public Land as well as a grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund program. The land was transferred to the Bureau of Land Management this month.
In a statement, former landowner Angelo Tsakopoulos said his family is “very happy with this conservation outcome.” “This land, the river and the lake are special, and we’ve enjoyed seeing wildlife thrive here,” he said. “We’re pleased to know this land and the trail on it will be open to public access and recreation under BLM ownership.”
On a recent visit to the trailhead parking area, a billboard-size “Private Property” sign staked into the dirt and pocked with bird shot warned visitors away. Unfazed, a dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle roared down the trail a stone’s throw from the lot.
How exactly the area could be upgraded or improved isn’t yet clear. However, “the land acquisition is intended to provide new trails and access to the river,” according to Philip Oviatt, public affairs officer for the Bureau of Land Management’s Central California District.
The property’s 5 miles of trails are likely to be open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, but probably not dirt bikers and off-roaders, Darlington said. He’d like to see the ominous Private Property sign replaced by an interpretive kiosk and maybe a restroom at the trailhead — something more welcoming for river-goers eager to explore a new corner of the Sierra foothills.
“Instead of 97 homeowners being able to enjoy it, now everyone can,” he said.
Read original article and see more photos in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper HERE.
Article by Gregory Thomas: [email protected]
RSS Feed