Quick Facts:
- 40 acres in the Moody Ridge area, near Alta
- Located on the rim of the North Fork American River canyon
- Mixed black oak and conifer forest with high quality habitat and corridors for wildlife
- Land purchased in 2020 from original landowner Neil Gerjuoy, with from the Wildlife Conservation Board’s Forest Conservation Program. 25% of the purchase price was generously donated back by Mr. Gerjuoy for long-term stewardship funding.
- Ownership transferred to Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe in April 2022; now owned by the Tribe’s nonprofit, Koy’o Land Conservancy
About the Preserve
Yo’ Dok’im Pakan – Gerjuoy North Fork Preserve is located in the Moody Ridge area, a part of the North Fork American River canyon that is under pressure from residential development. This property is a key piece within a large block of conserved lands along the river canyon. The property is adjacent to another active Placer Land Trust project site and in the vicinity of other protected lands, including federal BLM land, the public Green Valley Trail, and our Bailey North Fork Preserve.
The Preserve is located in the North Fork American River watershed, approximately a mile upslope from the river. The forest consists of mixed conifers and oaks, with mature ponderosa pines, Douglas fir, black oaks, and canyon live oaks. The ridgetop portion of the property was recently thinned for fuel load reduction, which cleared out most of the understory vegetation and retained the mature conifers and oaks. Areas of the property within the canyon contain dense understory vegetation, including manzanita and toyon, providing valuable habitat for wildlife.
In April 2022, Placer Land Trust transferred ownership of the Preserve to the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe of the Colfax Rancheria. The Tribe is comprised of Nisenan, Maidu and Miwok people of the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills of Placer County, and the Tribe considers this land to be part of its ancestral homelands.
“Placer Land Trust is committed to working with willing landowners and conservation partners to protect and care for land in a way that’s inclusive and equitable, and a big part of that is working with Native American Tribes who have an extremely long and deep relationship to the land,” says Placer Land Trust Executive Director Jeff Darlington. “We can’t undo the injustices done to Tribes in the past, but we can partner with local Tribes today to facilitate their connection to land. And in this case we’re very grateful to be able to return ownership of this specific land back to the Tribe – forever.”
Owning and managing natural land in its homelands supports the Tribe’s effort to restore federal recognition, and this property provides a fitting place to put traditional cultural and ecological knowledge into practice and host educational activities for the Tribe and the public at large.
“For a long time, Tribes in California have lost land,” says Tribal Chairman Clyde Prout III. “Having a piece of land actually come back to the Tribe, where we can utilize our traditional cultural stewardship practices and have a place to gather – it’s huge. Now we have a place where we can keep our traditions going.”
Natural History
This area is home to an incredible diversity of wildlife – from large mammals (bear, deer, bobcat, coyote) to reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects. The property hosts a bubbling spring, small waterfall, unique riparian (streamside) vegetation, and several large rock outcrops, all of which provide habitat for wildlife.
Ridgetop residential development is expanding in this area, impacting the migration and day to day movement patterns of wildlife as they move along the canyon rim. Permanently protecting this land will prevent another house being built on the canyon rim and so will help to preserve these important wildlife corridors. Placer Land Trust’s acquisition and protection of Gerjuoy North Fork Preserve, along with other nearby preserves, ensures that a significant stretch of the North Fork American River canyon land will remain wild and natural forever.
Several special-status plant and animal species live within a five-mile radius of the property. On the property is a listing of Sierra blue grass (Poa sierra), which is designated rare by the California Native Plant Society. There is also an occurrence of foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii), a state candidate threatened species, within 2 miles of the property.
Grinding rocks on the property indicate that this land was a food gathering and preparation site for Native Americans.
Protecting Water Quality
This preserve is located in the North Fork American River watershed, along a section of river that is federally-designated “Wild and Scenic” – the top designation reserved for the highest quality, undammed rivers in the US. It is also a state-designated “Wild Trout Water” for its rainbow and brown trout fisheries. The American River is a significant source of drinking water for Placer County and the Sacramento region. Protecting the watershed helps to keep the river and our drinking water clean and free from contaminated runoff, erosion, sedimentation, and other pollution.
Working with Landowner and Partners
Landowner Neil Gerjuoy, through connections with the North Fork American River Alliance, contacted Placer Land Trust in 2018 asking if we would be interested in purchasing the property for conservation before he had to put it on the market. The property likely would have sold for residential development, and a home would have been built along the canyon rim, with associated utilities, access road/driveway, and other infrastructure. The landowner’s commitment to protecting the land made this project possible — he even passed up a higher offer and instead sold the property at appraised fair market value to Placer Land Trust. Funding for purchase was awarded through the Wildlife Conservation Board’s Forest Conservation Program in connection with the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife. Mr. Gerjuoy also generously donated 25% of the purchase price back to Placer Land Trust to cover long-term stewardship of the land, without which this project would not have been financially feasible.
Future Management
The transfer of this land to the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe does not change any of the protections that exist on the Preserve. The Preserve is now owned by the Tribe’s nonprofit Koy’o Land Conservancy, whose mission is to restore traditional homelands to tribal ownership and maintain its lands through cultural practices and traditions. The Koy’o Land Conservancy will assume the obligations of the WCB grant agreement and deed restrictions that prohibit development and ensure that the Preserve is forever protected as open space.
With the financial support of Mr. Gerjuoy, Placer Land Trust was able to provide the Conservancy with a grant for ongoing stewardship of the Preserve. And the two nonprofits have agreed to continue to partner for the foreseeable future, starting with monitoring the property together for the first three years.
“We plan to learn from each other and listen to what the land has to tell us,” says Darlington. “This land donation isn’t a beginning or an end, it’s an important milestone in our ongoing work to diversify and bring more justice into land conservation. And like this Preserve, that is here to stay.”
