Quick Facts:
- 546 acres along the Bear River
- Located north of Auburn
- Purchased in 2018, and expanded in 2020
- Blue oak woodland and riparian landscape
- Financial support from Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, and and the Laursen family
- Nature preserve with no public access currently
About the Preserve
The Preserve is comprised of 546 acres of blue oak woodland and about 1.5 miles of riparian habitat along the banks of the Bear River. The Preserve, taken together with other protected lands, creates a block of over 8,000 acres of protected lands covering about 6 miles of the lower Bear River. This block includes four connected, contiguous Placer Land Trust preserves (Garden Bar, Harvego, Shutamul, and Laursen) that cover more than 3,000 acres right along the Bear River.
This unique landscape also features the largest population of California dogface butterfly, the California state insect, known in the Sierra Nevada; a distinction it shares with the adjacent Shutamul Bear River Preserve. With purchase of this property, PLT has now protected the entire known stand of habitat for this rare butterfly.
Bear River Foothills Habitat
Natural communities and species that can be found on the Preserve include:
- Expansive blue oak woodland and black oak dominated riparian habitat on north facing slopes along the Bear River.
- Expansive stand of habitat for the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice). This habitat is made up of a rare false indigo bush (Amorpha californica), which serves as the host plant for the dogface butterfly to reproduce.
- Wildlife species include: Mule deer, mountain lion, grey fox, flying squirrel Cooper’s hawk, lazuli bunting and many others.
- Host to a number of California Native Plant Society listed plant species as well as the locally-rare Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana semota).
Watershed Protection and Scenic Open Space
Other public benefits of the Preserve include:
- Protects scenic open space
- Connects previously disconnected PLT Preserves to create a larger block of uninterrupted habitat which further enhances water/air quality in the region
- Supports healthy, diverse populations of plants and wildlife, which local residents and visitors can enjoy from nearby trails and rural properties.
- Protects water quality in the Bear River watershed, which provides water supply to the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) and helps irrigate tens of thousands of acres of farmland in the Sacramento Valley.
- Used for cattle grazing during the winter months to reduce fuel load for fire safety and reduce invasive plants. The grazing on this Preserve is light, with a focus on fire safety and promoting biodiversity.
Partnership with UC Davis
Placer Land Trust will continue our working relationship with the Bohart Museum of Entomology, U.C. Davis to study the dogface butterfly and how to manage this unique landscape.
Working with the Landowner and Funders; Tax Benefits
This project was made possible only by a diversity of funding partners. The funders were Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust, the California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC), the Laursen family, and Placer Land Trust (PLT).
The Laursen family contributed by discounting the 2018 sale of the northern portion of the property by roughly 25% of its fair market value, referred to as a “bargain sale.” This contribution served as a charitable income tax deduction for the family. WCB, ETGT, and PLT provided the funding for the discounted purchase price of this northern portion.
The funding needed to acquire the southern portion of the Laursen Bear River Preserve came in 2020 through two Prop 68 grants: one from SNC and one from WCB.
Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust provided the funds needed for stewardship of the property for generations to come.
Recreation
Placer Land Trust plans to share this land with the public through docent-led activities starting in 2021. The property is served only by private roads, so it is not suitable for open public access and recreation at this time. However a trail easement donated by Andy and Shana will allow future visitors to travel from the Laursen Bear River Preserve to adjacent Shutamul and Harvego Bear River Preserves.
History
The Laursen family was an early supporter of Placer Land Trust, providing critical operational support in the early 2000s and funding some of our early mapping and assessment work along the Bear River. This helped us identify many priority lands to protect, such as Harvego Bear River Preserve, Shutamul Bear River Preserve, and Garden Bar Preserve. In 2006 the Laursens very generously provided Placer Land Trust with the bulk of the funding to purchase Shutamul Bear River Preserve. In 2010, in recognition of their efforts to enrich the quality of life in Placer County through resource conservation, Placer Land Trust honored them with the Placer Conservator award. In 2015 they let us know they were willing to work with us to conserve the land they owned along the Bear River. Over the next two years, Placer Land Trust brought together the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust, the Laursen family, and added PLT’s own funding to make this project happen – and the rest is history.
Preserve expansion
The Preserve was expanded by an additional 185 acres in 2020, making the total preserve 546 acres. Read more about the expansion project here.
Funding was provided by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Board, agencies of the State of California under the under the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018 (Proposition 68), and from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and from private sources including Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust, the Laursen family, and Placer Land Trust members.
