Our Conservation Story
39 easements, one fee title, over 30 years. This is NCRLT, protecting working and wild lands from subdivision and development.
NCRLT was founded as Parks and Preserves by concerned Chico residents in response to the explosive urban outgrowth that the city began in the late 1980s. It was created to provide education and legal resources to the community to help those wishing to preserve their land. Today, the Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that assists landowners and public agencies in the voluntary protection and conservation of agricultural land, open space, wildlife habitat, and other natural resources. Working across Butte, Glenn, and Tehama County, we are dedicated to responsibly stewarding natural landscapes and our region's deeply rooted farming and ranching heritage for generations to come.
To advance our mission, we negotiate conservation easements, facilitate land acquisitions or exchanges, and provide professional planning and technical assistance in natural resource management and conservation. We also support environmental education for people of all ages, host events that bring the community together to celebrate land, and work to increase public access to wild nature and to outdoor recreation opportunities in our region.
Our Work
The Land Trust's easements protect over 180 individual parcels on 40 properties, all of which are monitored every year to ensure they are kept to the terms of the easement.
Abbey of New Clairvaux
Easement Date: December 2023
Funded by: California Department of Conservation
An abbey of the Cistercian order, built from the stones of an original 12th-century abbey that once stood in Guadalajara, Spain. These stones were imported to California in the 1930s, finally reclaimed by the monks in 1994, and the abbey began construction in 2004. At the confluence of Deer Creek and China Slough, the abbey is enveloped by freshwater pools and riparian woodlands. The property supports a vineyard and winery, prune and walnut orchards, tomato fields, and other crops grown for the local community.
Hamilton Ranch
Easement Date: December 2023
Funded by: California Department of Conservation, NRCS
Stewarded by generations of the Hamilton family since the 1950s, this ranch supports grass-feeding year-round and grows 200 tons of hay every summer. Its wide grass plains support 55 state special-status animal species, including the North American Porcupine.
Oroville
Easement date: May 2023
Funded by: Stewardship Council
Protected from development under an agreement with PG&E, this collection of properties leads from Oroville Dam up the western branch of Feather River. The native blue oak woodlands it protects contain pre-contact and pioneer-era artifacts, recreational sites, and habitat for hawks, eagles, and black bears.
Dixon Ranch
Easement date: June 2022
Funded by: Caltrans, BCAG
A private 400-acre ranch in the northwest of Butte County, whose easement protects foothill blue oaks and cattle grazeland along Mud Creek.
North Fork Feather River
Easement date: December 2020
Funded by: Stewardship Council
The North Fork Feather River Planning Complex is the Land Trust's largest project, spanning 57 individual parcels located across over 30 miles of waterway. These 5600 protected acres include viable habitat for over 300 state special-status species.
Philbrook Reservoir
Easement date: May 2020
Funded by: Stewardship Council
Preserved for its scenic views and fishery resources, including stocks of triploid rainbow trout. The reservoir also provides habitat for native ospreys, eagles, and martens.
Battle Creek
Easement date: May 2019
Funded by: Stewardship Council
An important waterway for the restoration of salmon and steelhead, NCRLT works with multiple landowners to operate a complex of easements along Battle Creek to protect fishery and water resources.
Butte Creek
Easement date: May 2019
Funded by: Stewardship Council
Several parcels along upper Butte Creek are federally-listed critical habitat for steelhead and Chinook salmon, and are protected for their fishery and forestry resources. Also preserved are historic hydroelectric facilities dating to 1900.
Berkeley Olive Grove
Easement date: January 2018
Funded by: California Department of Conservation
The most recent of NCRLT's agricultural easements, this protected olive orchard has been cultivated as such since 1913. The current owners have been growing certified-organic mission olives on this land since 2004.
Garner Ranch
Easement date: February 2017
Funded by: California Department of Conservation
A foothill beef ranch of prime fall-spring grazing land, with natural water springs and volcanic rock outcrops providing shelter to native bats and to raptors, including Peregrine falcons and golden eagles.
Rose Ranch
Easement date: December 2016
Funded by: WCB, NRCS
A cattle ranch protected for its productive grasslands, and for patches of clay-loam soil that support an enormous diversity of native plants. Blue oak-gray pine stands are also valued elements of the easement.
McClintock Orchard
Easement date: November 2015
Funded by: California Department of Conservation
Just outside of the Chico Greenline, this land has been family-owned since 1966, and an almond orchard since 1972. The leveed Mud Creek runs nearby.
Westover Orchard
Easement date: October 2014
Funded by: California Department of Conservation, NRCS
A collection of mixed orchards on prime river soil, several acres of undisturbed riparian forest are also present on this property.
Pamma-Larkin
Easement date: August 2013
Funded by: California Department of Conservation
Growing peaches, prunes, almonds and walnuts, these orchards near Gridley have been preserved to retain productive un-subdivided ag land in the region.
Little Chico Creek
Easement date: June 2013
Funded by: WCB
A collaboration with three different private landowners to preserve their properties as part of a larger effort to protect the Little Chico Creek watershed. Rainbow trout and blue elderberry are among the species that benefit from this project.
Deer Creek Preserve
Easement date: March 2012
Funded by: Western Rivers Conservancy
The only conserved property actually owned by the Land Trust, the preserve encompasses the Deer Creek trail and its accompanying riparian landscapes and resources.
Home Place
Easement date: August 2011
Funded by: California Department of Conservation, NRCS
A walnut orchard in the far north of the Sacramento River orchard corridor, its owners have all been local growers since the 1930s.
Meridian Ranch
Easement date: July 2011
Funded by: Westervelt Ecological Services, USFWS, CDFW
A cattle grazeland ranch in the space between the foothills and the valley floor. This land has been conserved for its grazing resources and its seasonal wetlands and vernal pools.
Comanche Creek
Easement date: June 2011
Funded by: California Department of Conservation
This walnut orchard's easement protects the productive agricultural use of the land and its associated creek and irrigation channels.
Shauna Downs
Easement date: December 2010
Funded by: Private Donation
An expanse of flat grassland, containing a multitude of seasonal pools and water features. These have been preserved as habitat for vernal pool species, migratory birds, and burrowing owls.
Burrows Ranch
Easement date: November 2010
Funded by: WCB
A large, multi-use ranch which grazes cattle and grows many types of field crops, including peas, wheat, oats, and alfalfa. The ring of mountains around the property contain many types of now-preserved mixed woodland.
Big Bluff Ranch
Easement date: November 2010
Funded by: WCB
This western foothill ranch uses cattle, sheep, and goat grazing to manage and enhance the diverse range of habitats available on the property. Yearly cycles of grazing and resting produce better grazeland and native habitat.
Tozier Ranch
Transfer date: December 2009
Previous easement holder: Golden State Land Conservancy
A pre-existing easement transferred to the Land Trust for long-term operation. This property has been preserved for its native grasses and cattle grazeland.
R&R Ranch
Easement date: December 2008
Funded by: Private Donation
This property is protected for its seasonal streams and gullies, running through rocky, woodland, and grassland terrains. This type of setting is an excellent hunting ground for native raptors.
Leininger Camp
Easement Date: July 2007
Funded by: Resource Legacy Fund Foundation
A historic property owned by the current family for four generations, a perennial stream and two natural groundwater springs provide a unique hydrological setting on the property.
Rancho Llano Seco
Easement date: May 2006
Funded by: California Department of Conservation, WCB
A Mexican land grant dating to 1845, Llano Seco is a landscape of pools, channels, and oxbows, all supporting a diverse range of native species and agricultural resources. Flowing directly into the Sacramento River, this relatively undisturbed area is important for all of Northern California's hydrology.
Freeman
Easement date: August 2004
Funded by: Private Donation
A native foothill woodland mostly devoid of invasive plants, the upper portion of this property contains incense cedar, Douglas fir, and California black oaks, while its lower reaches are populated with California buck eye, live oaks, and bay laurels.
Canyon Oaks
Easement date: June 2003
Funded by: Private Donation
A blue oak slope rising above a developed neighborhood, Butte County checkerbloom and waveyleaf soap plant grow extensively here. The area has been preserved to protect the scenic wildflower landscape.
Kanaka Bar, Sky Hill, Rancho Aguaje
Easement date: January 2002
Funded by: Private Donation
Three properties of mixed-oak woodland in the foothills above Paradise, this area supports many types of shrubs and wildflowers, which in turn support small mammals such as opossums, shrews, and weasels. This area is still recovering from the Camp Fire, but is showing steady improvement from year to year.
Hanford
Easement date: November 1999
Funded by: Private Donation
A preserved region of the Feather River Canyon supporting hard and softwood stands, everything from woodpeckers to bobcats to ringtails have been evidenced to live on or otherwise use this area.
Arthur Ashley
Easement date: November 1998
Funded by: Private Donation
An extension to the Land Trust's earliest work near the northern leg of Lake Oroville, this property protects a section of Spring Valley Creek.
Hamlin Creek
Easement date: July 1998
Funded by: Private Donation
A fast-flowing rocky creek, part of the same hydrology that also supports several natural springs nearby. This property has been used by multiple landowners for hunting and recreation over the past 60 years.
14-Mile House
Easement date: December 1993
Funded by: Private Donation
The beginning of NCRLT's effort to protect the Little Chico Creek watershed. The upper hills support a variety of chapparal and blue oak, while cottonwoods, sycamores, alders, boxelders, and Oregon ash form the canopy above the creek itself.
Spring Valley, Waterfall, Blue Oak
Easement date: June 1992
Funded by: Private Donation
The Land Trust's earliest easements, these three adjacent properties form a length of Spring Valley Creek and a block of its associated woodlands. A pool and waterfall are present on this land, in which turtles and salamanders can be seen swimming, and old Maidu grinding holes exist in the creekside stone.
Daniel Deem, GIS Specialist Intern 12/18/2023