Project Bolsters Local Timber Industry, Protects Habitats for Endangered Species
Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and the McCrary Family, owners of Big Creek Lumber, today announced their agreement to permanently conserve 937 acres of redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
This two-property, multi-party deal establishes a working forest conservation easement — the first to be implemented collaboratively with a timber company in the Santa Cruz Mountains — on 617 acres of second-growth redwood forest.
It also permanently protects 320 acres of critical watershed, mature redwoods and wildlife habitat adjacent to Butano State Park.
“We are honored to partner with the McCrary family to protect significant areas of redwood forest from development and support responsible, sustainable timber production. It’s a win-win arrangement that benefits the forest and shows just how far conservationists and timber companies have come,” said Walter T. Moore president of POST. “Together we envision a future where the communities of people and wildlife that surround and depend upon these forests all benefit from the very positive environmental and economic outcomes that this collaboration will produce.”
“For more than 70 years, these forests have been integral to our family’s identity and livelihood,” said Janet McCrary Webb, president of Big Creek Lumber. “The innovative deal we’re announcing makes good environmental sense, as we continue to apply our progressive forestry practices that deliver the many benefits of active forest management to the surrounding community. It also makes good economic sense: In gaining a sustainable timber supply, we can create jobs and continue to generate local revenue from locally sourced lumber.”
The Deal
This arrangement involves two separate but interdependent land deals. POST and the McCrary family have agreed to conserve both properties, totaling 937 acres, for a project valued at $11.7M.
Through this deal, Big Creek secures access to a reliable, sustainable, and ecologically appropriate supply of timber for its nearby sawmill in Davenport, and POST protects almost 1,000 acres of iconic redwood forest.
POST is acquiring a 617-acre property known as Valencia Creek from Cal Poly Corporation and is permanently protecting it from development. The property sits within the upper watershed of Aptos Creek in Corralitos.
Recognizing a unique conservation opportunity, the McCrary family is selling POST 320 acres of mature, unharvested second-growth redwoods in the Gazos Creek watershed as part of the transaction.
This unique partnership between POST and the McCrary family will result in Big Creek owning and managing the Valencia Creek property, with POST holding the working forest conservation easement.
The McCrary family, who has cared for the property for over 50 years, has not harvested the Gazos Creek parcel. It falls within one of only seven critical habitat areas in the region for the endangered marbled murrelet and is home to many other species. They are selling this parcel to POST at a very favorable price in exchange for the conserved Valencia Creek property.
Sempervirens Fund, the Bay Area land trust dedicated to conserving redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is contributing to the acquisition by assuming management of the Gazos Creek parcel from POST and caring for it until it can be transferred and incorporated into Butano State Park.
Sempervirens Fund has worked to expand and connect state park lands, including Butano, Big Basin, Portola Redwoods and Castle Rock State Parks.
“This landmark arrangement could establish a model for similar protections and partnerships in the Santa Cruz Mountains and elsewhere,” said Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the California State Coastal Conservancy. “It provides for optimal land uses: preserving endangered species habitat and working forest, along with watershed protections and permitting public access to the Gazos property.”
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For more information: openspacetrust.org