Ten Mile Estuary – Saved!

July 25, 2016

On Friday July 22, Mendocino Land Trust accepted a gift from The Conservation Fund – a beautiful 49-acre property at Ten Mile River. The property lies east of the Ten Mile Dunes, on the southern bank of Ten Mile River estuary near the Ten Mile River Bridge, ten miles north of Fort Bragg, on the Mendocino Coast. The Land Trust will eventually provide public access along the south side of Ten Mile River and under the highway bridge, into MacKerricher State Park’s Ten Mile Dunes Reserve. This acquisition marks the successful completion of a six year effort to permanently protect the 1,340 acre Smith Ranch.

    “We’ve been working for several years with The Conservation Fund, landowners Maggie Perry and Susan Smith Lampman, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the Nature Conservancy to complete the acquisition of this beautiful property,” said Mendocino Land Trust’s Executive Director Ann Cole, “and we are grateful for the generous land donation and the landowners’ patience through all the project’s twists and turns. We are pleased to add this gorgeous property to the portfolio of lands we are protecting forever. It’s been great to work with such incredible partners and to be part of a larger conservation effort in the Ten Mile watershed.”

    The property includes sand dunes, grasslands, fir forest, riverside habitats and of course, a portion of the gorgeous Ten Mile River estuary.  The Land Trust has already started work to obtain necessary permits for a new trail, a parking area and a small picnic/viewing area.  Funding for the Conservation Fund’s purchase of the property was provided in part by the State Coastal Conservancy.  The State Coastal Conservancy has provided the land trust with funding for the planning and permitting for the public access areas as well.  For more information about this exciting project, please contact Louisa Morris at the Mendocino Land Trust, (707) 962-0470 or lmorris@mendocinolandtrust.org.