In the first deal of its kind for the conservation group, the Redding-based Shasta Land Trust has handed over more than 600 acres to the U.S. Forest Service to expand the Ishi Wilderness in Tehama County.
With funding from a private foundation, the group in 2007 purchased two parcels totaling 648 acres for $280,000. The donation was completed last week.
The Ishi Wilderness, 20 miles east of Red Bluff, comprises 41,000 acres in the Lassen National Forest. What makes it unique among wilderness areas is its low elevation.
"One thing that's kind of neat is most Forest Service wilderness areas are mountaintops, which are great but not as biologically diverse," said Ben Miles, the trust's executive director. The Ishi area is the winter home to the Tehama herd, the largest migratory deer herd in California.
Other inhabitants include wild hogs, mountain lions and black bears, and a variety of fish, songbirds and raptors. The parcels are in rugged, remote terrain and include portions of Deer Creek and Big Dry Creek canyons, Miles said.
"These kinds of donations benefit the public greatly," said Christopher O'Brien, public services staff officer for the Lassen forest. They preserve the ecosystem, he said, while also expanding wilderness and recreation opportunities.
Partners with the Redding group in the latest project include the Northern California Regional Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy.
The area, named for the country's last American Indian living in the wild, was brought into the wilderness system in 1984. A handful of survivors from Ishi's tribe, the Yahi Yana, hid out there for decades after white settlers killed most of the tribe in the 1850s.
Dedicated to permanently conserving open space, wildlife habitat and agricultural land, the trust previously focused on conservation easements on privately owned property.
"This was the first time the Shasta Land Trust purchased property outright," Miles said of the Ishi deal. "It was kind of a new role for us to play. We may do similar projects like this in the future."
