Mendocino Land Trust Protects 219 Acres of Forest along the Eel River

February 10, 2026

Mendocino Land Trust accepted a Conservation Easement to protect 219 acres of forest along the Eel River, east of Willits. The Windswept Ranch Conservation Easement is a land protection win that was years in the making. The Conservation Easement (CE) will protect 219 acres of forest, including about ¾ of a mile of frontage on the Eel River. The Eel River is designated as a Federal and State Wild and Scenic River, and as California’s third largest watershed, it supports significant populations of Chinook and Coho salmon, steelhead, and Pacific lamprey. The conserved property is a diverse forest, containing oak woodlands, Douglas-fir, and hardwood forest. The donation of this CE to MLT by the landowner protects this property from development and subdivision, and preserves habitat connectivity to adjacent protected lands, preserving sensitive species and offering an opportunity for wildlife passage.

Conservation Easements are built on a landowner’s vision to preserve wild or working lands in perpetuity. Landowners then work with a partner organization like MLT to create the legal framework – the CE – in a way that is consistent with the owner’s intentions and supports their sustainable management of the land. This planning process can sometimes take years. At Windswept Ranch, the conversation began in the 1990s, when MLT’s former Executive Director Roger Sternberg first spoke to the landowner. Mr. Sternberg recalls, “Conserving Windswept Ranch has been a dream of former owner Chuck Ream for decades. We met with Chuck 25 years ago to talk about protecting his beautiful property, and it has finally been accomplished, thanks to the dedication of Chuck and the new owners of the Ranch, Conrad and Gianna Smart. Conserving the Ranch is not only a testament to them but to the perseverance of MLT.”

MLT’s Land Protection Manager Matt Franks adds, “Windswept Ranch represents Mendocino County at its best: its rugged mountains, beautiful forest lands, and of course, the remote location on the wild and scenic Eel River, a critically important habitat for our endangered salmonid species. Protecting this property is a key piece in the puzzle to conserve these habitats and species more broadly in our area.”