Ridgewood Ranch

The Land Trust is currently working with the owners of Ridgewood Ranch to conserve additional portions of the Ranch.  To date, the Land Trust has already conserved 1,722 acres at Ridgewood Ranch, located just south of Willits on Highway 101.  The historic home of the racehorse Seabiscuit, the ranch's natural attributes include 2,250 acres of oak woodlands, prime farmland and grazing land and 5 miles of fish-bearing creeks. For additional information please read the Ridgewood Ranch Conservation Area Project Summary. To see a map of proposed conserved areas click here.


Past Conservation at Ridgewood Ranch

On June 14, 2007, the LandTrust purchased a conservation easement on 1,689 +/- acres of conifer forest, oak woodland, and rangeland on Ridgewood Ranch. The $2 million purchase price for the Oak Woodlands Conservation Easement is substantially less than market value and represents a significant bargain sale from the landowner, the Golden Rule Church Association.

Ridgewood Ranch has eight types of oaks. California's oak woodlands sustain higher levels of biodiversity than virtually any other terrestrial ecosystem in the state.  More than 300 species depend on oak woodlands for food and shelter.  Intact oak woodlands protect soils from erosion and landslides, regulate water flow in watersheds, and maintain water quality in streams and rivers.  The conservation easement includes 4.75 miles of Riparian Protection Area that follows portions of Walker and Forsythe Creeks (fish bearing streams) and seven miles of critical Class II tributaries of the two creeks.

On May 26, 2006, the California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved a $2,137,500 grant to the Land Trust to purchase a conservation easement. $63,000 from the WCB will cover costs for surveying the conservation easement area and create a legal description necessary for closing expected in 2006.  In addition, $74,500 from WCB will be used to mark the 25 corners of the Oak Woodlands Conservation Easement that border on the proposed Agricultural Conservation Easement to be funded by the California Farmland Conservancy Program (CFLCP)

A "wet meadow" and a vernal pool that could not be afforded sufficient protection under the CFLCP funding guidelines are also included in the Oak Woodlands conservation easement although they are located geographically inside the proposed Agricultural Conservation Easement area.

The conservation easement calls for 15 days of limited public access for passive recreation at no charge to the public that will be in addition to the six days of public access to the Ridgewood Ranch Redwoods conservation easement.  The Oak Woodlands Conservation Easement will completely surround the second growth redwoods grove and enhance protection of that area of the Ranch.  The Ridgewood Ranch Nature Conservancy offers docent-led nature walks at no charge that requires a reservation. For more information, to view a schedule, and to reserve, go to http://www.seabiscuitheritage.org/conservancy.html.

In 2005, 33 acres of mature second-growth and old-growth redwood groves at Ridgewood Ranch were protected through a conservation easement held by the Mendocino Land Trust. The project was done with the support of the Save-the-Redwoods League.