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Feather River Land TrustAnnual Report 2005-2006

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The purpose of the Feather River

Land Trust is to conserve,

restore, and manage land in the

Feather River Region in cooperation with

willing landowners for the benefit of current

and future generations.

Front Cover: Indian Valley. Photograph by Bud F. Turner

Michael Yost, PresidentTaylorsville

Betsy Kraemer, Vice PresidentGenesee Valley

Tom Wood, SecretaryQuincy

Robert Cobb, TreasurerQuincy

Katie BagbyTaylorsville

Trina CunninghamGreenville

Beth ReidQuincy

Ceci ReynoldsKeddie

Rob WadeMeadow Valley

Board of Directors

StaffPaul Hardy, Executive Director

Quincy

Susan Kelley, Director of DevelopmentQuincy

Megan Martinez, AmeriCorps Service Member/Stewardship Assistant

Johnsville

Joyce Paczynski, Stewardship Coordinator Genesee Valley

Susan Payne, Executive AssistantMeadow Valley

Rob Wade, Learning Landscapes CoordinatorMeadow Valley

P.O. Box 182675 Court St.

Quincy, CA 95971tel. 530.283.5758 fax. 530.283.5745

www.frlt.org

Last Chance Creek. Photograph by Bud F. Turner

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Paul Hardy. Photograph by Steve Fisch

Even before I became a parent, one of my main motivations for pursuing a career in land conservation was to “protect land for the kids.” Not only

does it intuitively feel like the right thing to do, but the common theme that I notice among those with an affinity for nature and wildlife is that they had positive experiences on the land when they were young. This was true for me as well, and I feel blessed to have had parents who introduced me to the natural world—from lo-cal landscapes like Clover Valley and the Lakes Basin, to our precious National Parks like Yel-lowstone and the Grand Canyon.

For me and many others, relationship to the land has come primarily from recreational ex-periences, such as hunting, fishing, and camp-ing. For others, this relationship comes from having grown up on a family ranch or working forest. For others still, such as our local Moun-tain Maidu, a relationship to land is deeply rooted in one’s indigenous history and way of life, passed along for centuries. Like many of you, the lands of my youth became a part of who I am and led to an interest in conserving those lands—when the land becomes part of your personal identity, protecting those lands becomes personal.

In his recent book, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv gives an account of our society’s changing relationship to the land. Research is increasingly showing that, within the space of a few decades, the way children experience and understand the natural world has changed radi-cally. Even as children and teenagers become more aware of global environmental issues, such as climate change, their physical contact and intimacy with nature is fading. To illus-trate the point, Louv quotes one suburban fifth grader as saying, “I like to play indoors better ‘cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.”

The data presented by Louv are disturbing. Since 1950, the farm population in America has decreased from 40% in 1900 to just 1.9% in 1990. In a typical week, only six percent of chil-dren ages nine to thirteen play outside on their own. Studies by the National Sporting Goods Association show a dramatic decline in the past decade in such outdoor activities as swimming and fishing. Even bike riding is down 31 percent since 1995. In San Diego, 90 percent of in-ner-city kids do not know how to swim and 34 percent have never been to the beach.

Both urban and rural parents cite a number of reasons why their children spend less time in

Kids on land.by Paul Hardy, Executive Director

continued next page

Photograph by Rob Wade

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the outdoors than they themselves did, includ-ing disappearing access to natural areas, com-petition from television, computers, and other technology, dangerous traffic, more homework and fear of strangers. These are very real obstacles and risks to get-ting kids on the land. But much is at risk in keeping children indoors as well—including their psychological and physical well being. The rapid increase in childhood obesity has led many doctors to worry that the current generation of children may be the first since World War II to die at an earlier age than their parents. Studies of students in California and nationwide have shown that schools that use outdoor classrooms and other forms of expe-riential education produce significantly higher test scores in a variety of subjects, as well as increases in self-esteem, problem solving, creativity, and motivation to learn. Recent research also shows a positive correlation be-tween length of children’s attention spans and direct experience in nature.

Though less well-studied, other benefits of a child’s relationship with land and nature include the development of value of place, the ability to feel awe and wonder, a sense of stew-ardship for the land, and a conservation ethic. From a conservation perspective, the last two items trouble me in particular, for if today’s youth do not develop a sense of stewardship and a conservation ethic, what will eventually become of the of the lands of the Feather River Region or the global environment?

The work of the Feather River Land Trust is not only about conserving and restoring the land, but about conserving and restoring our relationship to the land as well. As such, I believe that the Feather River Land Trust, and land trusts in general, can play an important role in reconnecting children (and adults) with the natural word and in maintaining connec-tions that already exist. This annual report highlights some of the Trust’s efforts to do so, including the protection of working ranches, where families still have a connection to their place, and the Learning Landscapes Initiative, whereby the Trust is working to protect natural areas within walking distance of every public school in the watershed for use as outdoor classrooms.

The words of Lao-Tsu underscore what I believe to be the vital importance of conserv-ing and restoring people’s—and especially children’s—relationship to land:

“In the end we will conserve only what we love…We will love only what we understand…We will understand only what we are taught.”

As people who care for the land, you and I can do some of the teaching ourselves. Teachers and textbooks can impart important lessons as well. Perhaps most important of all is that we simply provide our youth with the time, the space, and a field of dreams in which to wander. Mother Nature will do the rest. Kids innately know how to connect with nature—it’s part of their biological make-up—they just need to be given the chance.

Winter fog from Spanish Peak. Photograph by Rob Wade

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Imagine two futures for our region … one without the Feather River Land Trust … and one with the Feather River Land Trust. A future with the Land Trust is

the one with “you” in it … you, our members … you, our volunteers … you, our donors … and you, the landowners … all finding a way to conserve, restore and manage land in our region for the benefit of current and future generations.

Like other land trusts across the U.S., the Feather River Land Trust values the future on a time scale much longer than our own—and for good reason. Each year about two million acres of farm and forest land are gobbled up to meet the perceived needs of our increasing popula-tion … housing tracts, strip malls, parking lots, highways, etc.

As the population continues to grow and prop-erty values soar, taxes on farms and ranches increase, making it more difficult for family owned operations to succeed, and at the same time, making it more difficult for land trusts to raise the funding resources needed to protect ecologically valuable places. This is the chal-lenge for land trusts everywhere, and state and local land trusts, often with help from national land protection organizations, are meeting the challenge. Last year across the USA, land trusts protected 37 million acres of farms, ranches, and wetlands.

Currently, FRLT is working to protect more than twenty properties totaling nearly 30,000 acres and we‘re monitoring twenty-five ad-ditional properties for potential transactions. Some of these properties may be owned and managed by the Feather River Land Trust, either through donation or purchase, and oth-ers will continue to be owned by the current

landowners, but with conservation easements limiting future development. Conservation easements may be donated or purchased and are individually negotiated by FRLT and the property owners.

The Heart K Ranch in Genessee Valley is the most recent acquisition by FRLT. We are look-ing forward to developing and implementing a management plan that will consider all the im-portant values that make the Ranch such a spe-cial place. We intend to develop a plan that will preserve the open space while providing public access for educational and recreational op-portunities. We also intend to continue cattle grazing and other ranching operations to help balance the costs of ownership and manage-ment. There are several Maidu cultural sites, which need protection, and wetland habitat along Indian Creek needs to be restored and protected for fish, wildlife, and other riparian dependent plants and animals.

The Heart K brings a challenging agenda to FRLT. We will be working hard for the next three years to raise the 2.5 million dollars needed to pay off the loan, which purchased the ranch, the $50,000 in annual holding costs, and funding to manage the Ranch. At the same time, we will be actively pursuing the rest of our ambitious projects.

We are looking forward to the future with great confidence and are pleased that we have recently added new talent and energy to our organization by the addition of new people to the board of directors and by increasing the number of valuable volunteers.

This past year has been a good one for Feather River Land Trust and the coming year prom-ises to be even better. Thanks for your help.

Imagine two futures.Mike Yost, President, FRLT Board of Directors

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Conservation is our primary goal. To date, FRLT has helped protect 12 properties totaling nearly 28,000 acres in the Feather River region.

These properties have an estimated market value of $50,000,000. Purchasing property outright or purchasing a conservation ease-ment on a piece of property takes significant resources, both financial and human. The Land Protection Committee of the Board of Direc-tors has a set of criteria by which properties throughout the watershed are evaluated for their ecological and cultural values. Currently, the Land Trust has a list of 45 properties, with interested landowners, that meet these criteria.

Goal1

In March of 2006, the Feather River Land Trust Board of Directors and Staff updated its four year strategic plan. This plan has four overarching goals,

land conservation, nurturing the relationship between people and the land, land stewardship, and strengthening our organizational capacity to meet the first three goals.

Conserve the most important private land in the Feather River Watershed by working with willing landowners and partner organizations.

We are able to work on about twenty simul-taneously—performing the assessment and due diligence required and raising the funding to make the purchase. These properties take about two years to conserve for posterity.

The Feather River Watershed is fortunate to be a high conservation priority for not only FRLT, but The Nature Conservancy, the Pacific Forest Trust, the California Rangeland Trust and the Sierra Business Council—as well as a number of major private foundations. Much of our land protection work with those partners has been focused in the Sierra Valley—primarily be-cause the threat to that valley is imminent and the cost of land is escalating quickly, making funding conservation projects more challeng-ing. The region is also very fortunate to have a number of strong leaders among the land-owners in and around Sierra Valley including Attilio and Jim Genasci, Fred and Elizabeth Balderston, Tony Maddalena, Cookie Gassiot, Corrine and John Matley, Bev and Jack Spar-rowk, and Dave Roberti. These families are conserving the special qualities of our ranch-ing community as well as the components of a healthy environment.

While ecological values are a focus for the Land Trust, we are also profoundly aware that some properties have important human value beyond biodiversity and scenic beauty. Our plan is to conserve at least one property close to the hearts of the people who live in each of the major valleys of the watershed. This year we finally purchased the Heart K Ranch in Genesee Valley. FRLT and our conservation partners are working on properties through-out the watershed, including American Valley, Indian Valley, and Humbug Valley.

This year we began working to protect 14 prop-erties being used by the region’s public schools as outdoor classrooms. Our goal for the FRLT Learning Landscapes Initiative is to conserve a natural area within walking distance of every public school in the watershed for educational purposes.

Mount Hough and Indian Valley from Grizzly Ridge. Photograph by Rob Wade

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In December, 2006, after a two year process, FRLT purchased the 880 acre Heart K Ranch in Genesee Valley from The Nature Conservancy. Purchase of the

property by FRLT was made possible with a low-interest, three-year bridge loan from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Inter-est and principle will be repaid with donations from private individuals and foundations.

With assistance from FRLT, The Nature Conservancy purchased the Heart K at market value in 2004 to keep the owner from subdividing the property. The Nature Conservancy used a revolving fund specifically maintained for quick land transac-tions. The FRLT Board of Directors made the decision to buy the property from The Nature Conservancy in order to keep it available for recreational and educational use by the public, as well as to protect the property’s many cul-tural and historical resources

One of The Nature Conservancy’s conservation strategies is to find one or more new buyers for some of their protected properties who are willing to limit their development on the property. While such a sale would conserve the property as open space and natural habitat, it would not necessarily be available for use by

the public. In the case of the Heart K, The Nature Conservancy held the title in order to give the Land Trust time to secure a bridge loan. FRLT has been managing the property for The Nature Conser-vancy in the interim.

FRLT is in the process of developing strategic plans for restoring and managing the property. The Land Trust’s policy is to allow public use of the land it owns wherever and whenever such use is ecologically compatible. We are working on a use plan for the Heart K.

Heart K Ranch, Genesee Valley. Photograph by Bud F. Turner

“A man dwells in his native valley like a corolla in its calyx, like an acorn in its cup. Here, of course is all that you love, all that you

expect, all that you are.”—Henry David Thoreau

At long last, FRLT acquires the Heart K.

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Goal 2Tracy Morrow looking up Red Clover Creek Canyon.

Photograph by Bud F. Turner

Increase awareness about our relationship of land to our quality of life.

The work of the Land Trust has grown exponentially in the past two years. Although this is a good thing in meeting the conservation needs of

the watershed, we don’t want to get so focused on the trees that we don’t stop to appreciate the forest. The people of, and visitors to, our part of the earth are much of what we are all about. The work of today’s generations will help en-sure that the quality of life in the region turns out as we want it to be.

Our values and beliefs lay strongly in support-ing people’s relationship to land. Where ever possible, we encourage a working property to continue to be productive. We work together with ranchers. Maybe we can teach them a little bit about stream restoration and wetland protection. Certainly, they have taught us quite a bit about cattle!

FRLT is increasing its ability to protect and restore our relationship to land by putting our beliefs into action and by expanding our land stewardship, restoration, and educational programs as funding, and subsequently the

capacity of the organization grows. Volunteers are the heart and backbone of the the Land Trust. Beginning with our hard-working, very involved FRLT Board of Directors, volunteers are continuing to grow in strength and num-ber.

We are pleased that Megan Martinez has joined our staff as an Americorp Service Mem-ber and stewardship assistant. Megan is taking the lead in reorganizing our volunteer pro-gram. We have a lot of work on our plate and can use a wide range of skills. Our long-term strategy is to organize volunteers around work projects that are roughly geographically-based so that neighbors of each protected property help us in its local stewardship. Our goal is to close a minimum of three properties each year, so our need for “better than good” neighbors will continue to grow in time.

We welcome your participation as a member, a donor, a volunteer, or an organizational part-ner in our work. Frankly, we would not have come this far without you. We hope that you will consider joining us for Earth Day on the Heart K on Sunday, April 22. It will include a few hours of work, education, and comraderie.

Spring is glorious on the Maddalena property. “Worm Corner Work Day,” which is what a work day on Maddalena is fondly called, is scheduled on April 28th.

FRLT, the Plumas Audubon Society, the Rober-ti family, and Sierra Farmstead are working together on RSVP (Our Sierra Valley Picnic) on the Maddalena Ranch on Saturday, May 26th. RSVP is still in the planning stage, but will be recreational and educational, including birding, canoeing, kayaking, and wildflower appreciation.

Finally, be sure to mark your calendars for the second annual Heart K Fundraiser on Satur-day, June 9th. The Moondance on the Heart K will christen the newly “raised” Red Barn with dancing!

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Feather River Land Trust made sig-nicant progress on our Learning Landscapes program this year. Rob Wade, Director of the Plumas County

Outdoor Education Program, is working with Paul Hardy to put agreements in place which will permanently conserve natural areas near Plumas County schools for use as outdoor classrooms. Funding for this work came from the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stew-ardship Council, The Strong Foundation, and most recently, Plumas Bank.

Most of these properties are familiar to Plumas County students and teachers who have been using them for gen-erations. Learning Landscapes will ensure that whether public or private land, they will remain natural and will be used as outdoor classrooms for our children’s children to enjoy.

Discussions with teachers about how best to use the properties in Portola, Quincy, Greenville, and Chester are underway. Middle and high school students will begin with as-sessments of conservation and cultural values and the development of a restoration and stew-ardship plan for each property. Curriculum will support the State Content Standards. The Land Trust, Land Trust volunteers, and other partners and resource professionals in the re-gion will offer support to the school district on

these Learning Landscapes. The program will be expanded to include Sierra County in the coming year and the rest of the Feather River region as time and funding allow.

Our region is one of the few in California to still have natural areas close to our schools. We believe that the Learning Landscapes model can be implemented in other cities and towns

throughout the nation—even those whose schools are surrounded by developed land. In October, Rob and Paul will conduct a workshop at

the National Land Conservation Conference in Denver to assist other land trusts in imple-menting a program that will nurture children in strengthening their relationship to land.

In this part of the Northern Sierra, our chil-dren will have a Learning Landscape to call their own from the first day of school through high school—a relationship they will carry forth into adulthood.

It is our sincere hope that such a relationship will nurture the future stewardship of the Feather River Region and will help develop an affinity and respect for the natural world.

Photograph by Rob Wade

“I am writing in the garden. To write as one should of a garden one must write not outside it or merely somewhere near it, but in the garden.”—Frances Hodgson

Burnett, The Secret Garden

The secret gardens belong to the children.

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Goal 3Stewardship entails supporting compatibility between agriculture and the natural health of the land. Regional ranchers have proven to be strong partners in our stewardship efforts. With a traditional family history of lovingly caring for their lands, they have worked with us to incorporate new ranching techniques, such as using solar pumps to move water into rangeland outside of the sensitive riparian and wetland areas. Ranchers have incorporated grazing timetables supportive of native plants and begun installing fencing friendly to the migration of wildlife.

These simple practices, combined with resto-ration by FRLT volunteers, the Feather River Coordinated Management Group, Trout Unlimited and others, have already realized remarkable changes on the landscape.

FRLT also manages its properties for public benefit. One of the important benefits of con-serving property in the Feather River region is to make possible its historical use by the com-munity. Whether it is digging worms on the banks of the Middle Fork of the Feather River, or first graders catching tadpoles in Boyle Creek, our relationship with the land is special

It’s never all work. This day’s photographs by Shannon Morrow

Although land conservation is the primary goal of the Feather River Land Trust, there is an innate responsibility for stewardship and

restoration that accompanies land conserva-tion. The Land Trust manages its own prope-ties: Maddalena in Sierra Valley and the Heart K Ranch in Genesee Valley. We also manage the Matley Ranch Property along Last Chance Creek on behalf of The Nature Conservancy. The Land Trust also monitors three conserva-tion easements in Sierra Valley.

Stewardship involves managing property for the benefit of natural resources and the general public. The properties FRLT works to conserve provide significant value to the region’s native wildlife species. Maddalena, located in the heart of the Sierra Valley wetlands, supports more than 125 bird species, including sandhill cranes, bald eagles, and white-faced ibis. This year, volunteers installed two burrowing owl nest boxes to encourage the species to return to nest on the property.

Ensure the responsible, long-term stewardship of all lands we conserve

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FRLT, Trout Unlimited, and other volunteers installed over three miles of solar fencing last year. This light-weight fencing is designed to be moved throughout the grazing season to better manage cattle and their impact cattle have on the land.

The Plumas Audubon Society and FRLT volunteers worked together to install burrowing owl nesting structures on the Maddalena Property in the spring of 2006. We hope to welcome two new owl families this spring!

in the Feather River region—and that relation-ship is important to FRLT.

Stewardship will be a large element of the Learning Landscapes Initiative. While many of the properties which will be included are already being used by teachers as outdoor-classrooms, our intention is to improve their natural qualities as we do with all of our stew-ardship projects.

Now that we own the Heart K Ranch, FRLT has assumed an entirely different kind of stewardship and restoration. The Heart K Ranch has three houses, three barns, and an irrigation system suffering from what could be generously called deferred maintenance. Work

on the Red Barn continues. We are grateful to Erik Weber for documenting the process from the beginning.

A few of Erik’s photographs are included in the montage on the next page. We were sufficiently naive to not know what we were asking when we asked our “barn crew” if they would restore the barn for us before it fell down. Erik has many, many pictures of this endeavor—and you’ll have opportunities to see them over the next few months.

“We are all indigenous to this planet, this mosaic of wild gardens we are being called by nature and history to reinhabit in good spirit. Part of the responsibility is to choose a place. To restore the land one must live and work in a place. To work in a place is to work with others. People who

work together in a place become a community, and a community, in time, grows culture. To work on behalf of the wild is to restore culture.”

—Gary Snyder, Turtle Island

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Jimmy Kossow fells dead tree on the Heart K Ranch

Lumber used in the Heart K barn restoration was obtained from dead and dying trees on the property and milled by David Schramel at the Indian Valley Lumber Company in Taylorsville.

Jimmy Kossow (left) and Erik Kindseth loading fallen timber for a

trip to the mill.

below left: Randy Pew, owner of Pew Forest Products, helps out with

his time and heavy equipment

below right: David Schramel takes over at his mill in Taylorsville.

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Ken Fye, Will Lombardi, Wayne Cartwright, Bruce Livingston, Eric Kindseth, Mike Banchio, and Scott Stirling wrestle the main beam into the barn.

Photographs by Erik Weber. Erik is a nationally published pho-tographer living in Indian Valley. He is documenting the renno-vation of the Red Barn and has over 1,000 photographs of this work. www.desart.com

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Stewardship and education are often related. Children pictured here are exploring gravel and mud from a stream bottom looking for caddis fly larvae. Photograph by Gabe Miller at the 2006 Barns, Birds, and Barbeque, of which the Feather River Land Trust is a partner.

In addition to their critical land stewardship work, we count on volunteers to make other things happen. From the members of the FRLT Board of Directors, each of whom have

responsibilities on at least one working committee, to the volunteers who organize Round Valley Run, over 100 volunteers were necessary to do the work of the Land Trust last year.

We are grateful for the talented construction crews that are working on the Heart K Ranch. Scott Stirling is coordinating a crew that is restoring the Red Barn that was the focus of last summer’s very successful The Barn Raising. Jim Webster and Chris Murray did the engineering. Last spring, Scott and his crew did repairs that would see the barn through the winter. The individual members of the “barn crew” have been busy with their own jobs through the summer and fall and are finishing up the job as we write. The lumber for the repairs came from the property, felled and hauled to the Schramel mill in Taylorsville by volunteers and Pew Forest Products. Because of the generosity of our construction crew, most of the net profit from The Barn Raising hasbeen available for transaction costs, property taxes, and making initial repairs to protect the Heart K property and buildings.

The Heart K has a dedicated group of “better than good” neighbors who work on the property. For example prior to last years event, volunteers revarnished the deck and cleaned up the grounds. Planning and staging The Barn Raising event was done by volunteers as well.

Barn Raising Volunteers

Don AitkenTrisha AitkenKatie BagbyDenise BattaginMary Rose CadenheadKen CawleyCarr CliftonLloyd CooperJohn CunninghamErnie CurnowDana FenimoreGeorge FlukeKim FlutyMartha FlynnBarry FordBarney HarchisAnn HarriganLisa HatzellDeanne HenningerKatelyn Johns Gordon KellerBetsy KraemerWalt KraemerJudith LambtonLeslie MinkTraci MorrowFrancis MusserNancy NeerEddie and Alicia Hammerich and the Neff Family Ranch handsHolly NordtCeci ReynoldsLee Anne SchramelSuzanne StirlingSharon TaschenbergJoe TomaselliAshley Watson Erik WeberRichard WilliamsMike YostSally YostJohn Zicker

Heart K Ranch Crew

Donald AitkenTrisha AitkenMike BanchioBill BattaginDenise BattaginJohn CunninghamDana FenimoreKen FyeMarilyn FyeBarney HarchisAnn HarriganBetsy KraemerWalt KraemerJulie MungerNancy NeerAbigail TolbsyRichard WilliamsDestry Wolverton

The Red Barn Crew

Mike BanchioWayne CartwrightBarry Ford Ken FyeJeff GloverEric KindsethJimmie KossowBruce LivingstonWill LombardiChris MurrayRandy PewJim ShaberDavid SchramelScott StirlingJim Webster

(supported by Betsy Kraemer and Susan Payne)

Introducing the winning FRLT Team in 2006

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Round Valley Run VolunteersMike AlexanderRobbie AlexanderBarkley AndersonSusan AndersonLinda BatsonFrank CarrionRon ClarkBrett CookKim FlutyMartha FlynnJohanna GershawowRobert GershawowRhonda HardyDoug Hawkinson and Plumas Amateur Radio Club membersKim HollidayGrant HollidaySusan KelleyShirley KossowBetsy KraemerRob KrinskiFrank WilliamsGuy McNettChristine MeyersSusan PayneRob PosnerSally PosnerJuliane RichardKate ShowerJohn ShowerMarty ShowerTom ShowerSharon TashenbergLee Anne SchramelMichele TilfordErik WeberWendy WeightCurtis WeightSally WilliamsMike YostSally Yost

Photographers

Lou BoscheeCarr CliftonMartha FlynnGabe MillerShannon MorrowCarl RaymondBud TurnerRob WadeErik Weber

Maddalena Crew

AnonymousWayne CartwrightPrimo CassolBill DavisDarla DeRuiterJohn HafenMark HardyRichard HardyBill HarnachNancy HarnachDarrel JuryTim KurdupksiGuy McNettJohn OlofsonJoyce PaczynskiSusan PayneTodd SheroTrout Unlimited, Graeagle Chapter Mike Yost

Introducing the winning FRLT Team in 2006 We believe, not only in the protection

and restoration of land, but in the

protection and restoration of our

relationship to the land.

We believe that interacting with the

land represents a marvelous learning

opportunity for children and adults,

nurturing people and the land alike.

We believe in future generations, and

in their right to experience

the magnificent lands of the Feather

River Region.

We operate in a cooperative, non-

litigious, apolitical manner.

We believe in being a good neighbor,

including paying property taxes, doing

business locally, and supporting the

local economy.

We believe that we can work together

now to shape the future of the Feather

River Region, and to protect the

quality of life we hold dear.

We believe in working with local

communities to identify and protect

the lands they love; we honor the

wishes of the communities we serve.

We believe in the locally-based

conservation and stewardship of lands.

Feather River Land Trust Values

Matley CrewMike CampbellJohn HafenTim KurdupkskiJohn OlofsonTrout Unlimited, Graeagle Chapter

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Indian Valley. Photograph by Bud F. Turner

Goal 4Create an efficient and effective organization capable of protecting and managing lands in perpetuity.

This year the Feather River Land Trust is celebrating its 7th anniversary. The orga-nization has grown from a small group of volunteers with a big idea to a staff of

four full-time employees, several part-time con-tractors, over 100 volunteers, and 650 individual donors. The big ideas remain.

Office efficiencyThis January FRLT expanded its offices at 75 Court Street. We now have room for our conference table, maps, storage and a growing staff. We received a grant from the Morgan Family Foundation, which funded the office expansion including a new database. We breaking the database in, so if we’ve made a mistake in how and where we’ve expressed our gratitude to you as a donor or volunteer in this annual report, please let us know.

SustainabilityGoal #4 is all about long-term sustainability and with land trusts long-term is a truly long time. With this goal in mind, we are developing strate-

gies to expand and diversify funding sources. As a not-for-profit organization dedicated to envi-ronmental sustainability, people’s relationship to the land, and conserving the character of the rural community in which we live, we live in a world where the bottom line isn’t the top priority. It’s not about the money—and yet, sadly, it is. In order to do our work of the scale we believe the region needs, we believe it is important to grow our ca-pacity to do the job.

MembershipMembership and individual donations remain critically important to the operation of the Land Trust. While we have focused on securing grants for acquisition and stewardship, it is difficult to find foundations or state agencies willing to fund the everyday work of the organization. We con-tinue to operate in a frugal manner—especially in our reliance on our 100 + volunteers—but the flex-ibility that unrestricted income gives us maximizes efficiency and effectiveness. Have no doubt that we genuinely appreciate and use carefully every dollar you send us.

Board of DirectorsThe Board of Directors is working hard to develop diversified strategies to accomplish our goals,

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including recruiting board members with business acumen and fund raising capability. Last year we welcomed Ceci Reynolds to the FRLT Board of Directors. Ceci brings business experience to the board at a time when we are heading into a capital campaign to fund the costs of buying the Heart K Ranch. She is chairing the Fund Development Committee. Ceci is looking for volunteers will-ing to help FRLT with fund raising and market-ing. Please give the office a call if you’d like to be involved in any part of this effort, including events planning and execution. The Heart K Event Com-mittee is also looking for new recruits.

Planned givingTo ensure that the Land Trust will be conserv-ing what makes the Feather River Region special forever, we are refining our planned giving pro-gram. It is our policy to establish a Stewardship Endowment for each of the properties or easements we own and/or manage in order to ensure that it remains in perpetuity. Often, the Stewardship Endowment is a gift from the landowner. A general operating endowment for FRLT will ensure that the organization continues its work into the future as well. FRLT is a 501 (c)3 organization. As such, your donations of property and stock and bequests are tax deductible. We are working to find partners so that we can offer programs such as Charitable Remainder Trusts through a pooled income fund. Currently, FRLT just isn’t big enough to manage such a planned giving vehicle on its own.

PartnersThe Feather River Land Trust continues to nurture our relationships with a wide range of partners, including The Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Business Council, Trust for Public Land and other land trusts with which we share common conser-vation goals.

We are proactively involved with organizations such as the Sierra Cascade Land Trust Council, California Council of Land Trusts, and Land Trust Alliance. In a response to concerns about unprec-edented stress on natural resources the land trust community has grown in the last decade.

According to the, Land Trust Alliance, each year, America loses two million acres of ranches, farms, forests open spaces. Pristine landscapes are con-verted to shopping malls, subdivisions and high-ways. In the process, more than 100,000 acres of wetlands are destroyed, degrading the water quality and contributing to flooding. Feather River residents love this region and yearn to take charge of its growth and economic vitality, while at the same time respecting the rights of land owners. In this context, voluntary conservation with the help of the Feather River Land Trust and its partners is succeeding.

The future is ours to determine.The Feather River region provides nearly two thirds of California’s water needs. Still, the thirsty state demands more as it struggles to meet the needs of an urban population that continues to burgeon. At the same time, state leaders express their concerns about flooding, hopefully learning a lesson from New Orleans about preemptive levee maintence—if not the equally important lesson of wetland preservation.

The work that FRLT, the landowners, and our partners are doing in the Feather River Region ensures that wildlife will continue to roam through our valleys, native plants will return to hold the soil in place, willows will cool the river, fish will thrive, and family ranches will remain to pass down their land to future generations. And interestingly, our work has potential for reducing the threat of flood in Sacramento.

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Fiscal state of Feather River Land Trust

Financial Reviews by John DeSelle, CPA, QuincyFor more detailed information, please contact the FRLT office.

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Thank you.The Board of Directors, staff and volunteers of the Feather River Land Trust thank the following people, including those who wish to remain anonymous, for their contributions between July 1, 2005 and December 31, 2006.

Contributions$25,000 and above

Cookie GassiotPacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship CouncilMorgan Family FoundationNatural Resources Conservation Service Resources Legacy Fund FoundationSierra Business Council

$5,000 —$24,999

AnonymousMellam Family FoundationPlumas Bank

President’s Circle($1000—$4,999)

AnonymousMt. Diablo Audubon SocietyTrout Unlimited, Graeagle ChapterLinda AlexanderTom and Tamia AndersonKen and Linda BaileyBob BattaginKim FlutySusan Marie Hagen and James BillerPaul, Rhonda, Emma and Drew HardyRichard and Becky HardyAnne Harrigan and Francis MusserPete Hentschel and Kim KraulSusan HopkinsJudy Johnson and K.D. DonnellGordon Keller and Jeanette BraunerChris and Jennifer KennedyBetsy and Walt KraemerShelley McLaughlin-Long and Jeffrey LongHerb and Wanda LongneckerRon and Marylou McNay

Paul and Kathy NeffJanet and Annie PagelsJim and Beth PremingerBeth and Russell ReidJohn and Laura ReynoldsSally SuppleeLouise WestMike and Sally Yost

Sponsor Members($500 - $999)

Houston ConstructionStirling BuildersKatie BagbyDr. Gino and Mary Battagin (deceased)Charles and Bev BlomCarl and Margaret ChavezFrancis and Deborah DobbsLarry and Pat FitesBarry and Suzie FordDelaine Fragnoli and Jim MacIntyreKen and Marilyn FyeJeanene and John HafenMark and Torrey HardyKeith and Lori LinfordBill and Judy MichelsonAdele MyersJoyce PaczynskiCeci ReynoldsRob Shulman and Rose RisingerAdrienne Stenson and Scott DavisWilbur VaughanDanny and Pat Wormington

Associate Members($250 - $499)

Mike and Amy BagleyJim and Karen BaileyBob BeckwithJane Braxton-Little and Jon LittleJack and Robyn BullockNoel Carlson and Jim HolstKen and Carol Casaday

Dennis and Natasha ChesterCharles and Mary Ann CooperDon DaileyJeff and Marta GloverJack and Diane GreenspanFrank HansonJudith Harr and Sharon LambtonKenneth and Virginia HeadRalph HigbeeJudge Janet HildeBill and Aggie KeeseMike and Terry KerbyRobert Knight and Donatella ScabiniLeslie Larson and Michael BennettDavid and Mary LindLinda MargareticSandra McGaugheyDavid and Cassie McNamaraGuy McNett and Linda BatsonMargaret MilesLeslie MinkMichael MorrisonJulie MungerNancy NeerWarren PapemanBill and Kathy PetersSam and Susan PettinatoJohn and Betsy SchramelLee Ann SchramelDr. Christopher Stanton and Laura AshkinBob and Denise SteinGeorge and Pat TerhuneThomas and Rosemary TischErik and Sally WeberLeah WillsAnn Wood

Sustaining Members($100 - $249)

Forest StationersWebster EngineeringMichelle Adams and Manuel BoehmerVicki and Aldo Baggia

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Fred and Elizabeth BalderstonBill and Denise BattaginJim BattaginDave and Shirley BauerChristopher and Sandy BeeryJohn Bennett and Karen BalabanianTerry and Linda BenoitLucinda Berdon and Mark HoustonRobert and Loraine BerryRodney and Penny BerryBill and Nancy BibbPeter and Roz BonerzBob and Lou BoscheeJack and Pat BridgeDavid and Linda BrownJudy BuckMichael Cameron and Christine StitserMike and Joan CassityKen Cawley and Lynn LongwayDorothy CockrellKathleen ColburnBill CoprenJeff Cunan and Micaela RubalcavaJohn CunninghamBill and Mary DavisJohn DeSelleNicole Di PaduaArmando DiGiacomo and Kathy EricksonRon and Bonnie EwingColin and Angela DillinghamRay and Martha DonnenwirthJeff EllermeyerBruce and Mary FisherJohn FisherKristen Franklin and Robert NemethScott and Frances FreeMichelle Fulton and Laura BeatonJon and Barbara GalehousePhil Gallagher and Karin BentleyAttilio GenasciMichael GendelmanHolly GeorgeRobert Gilles and Alice CremaRobert and Karen GimbelJennifer Gladden

Ginger and Roger GrammGreg and Dianne GrunerLarry and Peggy GustafsonLorraine HansonRussell and Eleanor HillConstance Howard and Scott TylerDavid HydeRuth and Michael JacksonScott JacobsLois JonesSamuel and Candace JonesDarrel Jury and Darla DeRuiterKelly KawsuniakCarol KearnsBirgit KelleySusan KelleyTom and Alice KingLisa and Frank KortangianMike KossowBrenda Lantow and Tracy BallMartha LauritzenChristopher LeivasHenry LittleWill Lombardi and Jennifer BennettGreg and Kimberley LowDavid LudingtonBob and Diane MackelGordon and Edith MartinMegan MartinezJohn and Margaret MasonSue and Mike McCourtSally McGowanBeth and John McMorrowWesley MeadMaureen MeikleAlan and Shelley MorrisonTraci and Shannon MorrowChris MurrayDave and Karen NeelyJoanne NeftMichael and Valerie NellorDennis and Joanne O’CallaghanSusan Paulus and Palmer BrownSusan PayneJoel and Veronica PowellBill and Lori Powers

Tom and Maggie RahnTom and Carla RatcliffNance ReedDave and Dink RifeSandra and John RitchieBill and Mel RockettNorman and Claire RothJanet and Peter RudholmRob Russell and Deb WhittakerTauni Sauvage and Tom LathamJim and Judy SchaberEric and Leupoldina ScherffSuzi SchoenseeDavid and Merri SchramelBob and Sue SchultzJohn and Marty ShowerDavid and Linda SinclearBonnie and Dennis SonnenburgPhil and Susie SpearsJim SteeleDave and Jane SteidelRick, Inge and Leta StockFaith and Piers StraileyCamille SwobodaCandyce and David TartSharon TaschenbergDona TemplemanMarilyn M. TierneyRyan Tompkins and Michelle CoppolettaClinton and Carol TrippJohn Tull and Marlene Rebori-TullDave and Pandora ValleMitchell Frank Van HeckeRob WadeNancy WenningerJim Wilcox and Diane McCombsEmily WilliamsJerry and Terry WilliamsRichard WilliamsJohn WilliamsonTom and Darren WoodJay and Judy WrightRebecca Yost and Joseph McCoyJudge Stanley and Louise Young

“By perceiving ourselves as part of the river, we take responsibility for the river as a whole.”—Vaclav Havel

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Supporting Members($40 - $99)

Anonymous Dawn InstituteMartha Flynn PhotographyTrisha and Donald AitkenJudy and Robert BaalmanLinda Beeson-RustDorris BeckCheryl BelcherDave and Jodi BeynonDebbie and Don BlissLinda Blum and Harry ReevesMatthew Bowden and Barbara ForbesLinda BuddenbrockBarbara Buhtz and Geoff Grillo Neal and Heather CaiazzoRichard and Fran CarlsonIan and Sharon CampbellGloria CannonPatrick and Cheri CannonLinda CayotAimee ChudyDennis and Ann ClemensDaniel and Heather CluckBob Cobb and Betty MouraMichael and Mellouise CurryJohn and Sydney DalbecTerry and Kathy DaleyRobert and Sandra DavidsonFrank and Helen DavisTom DavisTheodore and Frieda DebernardiJulie and High KeenerMarty Dunlap and Jake PalazzoLinda FrostJim GaitherMatthew and Militza GeiselMilton Gottardi (deceased)Helen GreenColleen and Joe GriffinJulie Griffith-Flatter and Mark FlatterRon and Melissa GrohMark and Lisa Gunderson

Suzanne Hammel-Sawyer and Ben SawyerRowland and Eileen HandAndrew HarrisDorothy and Ken HattichMadelyn HellingPeggy HissJoe and Kristy HoffmanRobert HughesJan Hunt BoucherPhilip Hyde (deceased)Wayne and Marilyn JohannsonRobert and Averil KimbleMark and Delyth KitchNancy Jean Kull and Bill YoungJonathan Kusel and Amy HafsrudStephanie LeafDawn LetnerGordon and Norma LewisBruce and Doris LivingstonIrwin and Phyllis LuckmanRon Lunder and Peggy FulderBillie MangoldBetsy and Robert MarshallMac and Mary McCormickKristen and Taylor McKinnonBob and Wendy MorehousePatrick MorrowSteve Morrow and Linda Jane KoleStuart MoskowitzDave MurrayPhil NemirJames OverstreetCarl and Janet PetersSusie PettengillSally and Rob PosnerDavid and Catherine PosnerGeoff PryorVictoria RobbennoltPaul RohrerHannah RothlinRita Scardaci and Sam RadelfingerWalter SchlimNorberta and Marvin SchmidtJim and Norma SchonbeckWendy SelvaggioGeorge and Kathy SipelTodd and Kelly SloatRyan and Kristina Spears

Alan and Gwyneth StephensonLauren and Lawrence SternbergWilma and Mario TaddeiHoward and Karen ThomasLisa and Robert TurcotteRoxanne Valladao and John WoollerBruce and Linda WalkerDavid and Barbara WalshRose WankenHolly WaysonDaniel Williams and Leona CoronaGlee Willis and John TonMichael WrightChristopher Wuthmann and Allison RockTricia York

Individual Members($10 - $39)

Elisa Adler and Alejandro JayoBob and Lynda BalzanRobert and Nancy BartleyBill BartzJane BatteyDondra BillerConni C. BockLara Bowman and David HollisterTruman BurnsSam CatalanoDiane CattabrigaPatricia CaylerJames and Mary Jo ColtonCarolyn DavidsonKathy DavisJerri and Laura DedekerDianne and Peter DuncanKenneth and Christine FisherBarbara GageMaxine GilbertJohn and Diane GillerJanice GloeTy HerbertsonBarbara and David HillJames and Melissa HoodRon JamesVirginia JaquezHelen and Bill Kennedy

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Rob KulakofskyRuth LivingstonSuzanne and Jim McDonaldJim and Barbara McMillinGeorgia MerfyJason and Emily MoghaddasArchie and LaVerne MonicoBill and Toni MorrisDick and Sue MorseLawrence Newman and Julie CunninghamLisa OviattJim Paruk and Stefania StrzalkowskaKatie PeaseLinda PhillipsBeverly PowellJohn Preschutti and Ellen HollandJohn ProbstGary and Jill ReidMarsha and Ken RobyGabriel RossRoundhouse CouncilBruce and Anne RuffnerSusan SatroplusPeter SeidmanMary Lou SimonTerri Simon-JacksonLori and Marvin SimpsonCarol SnowPaul StancheffKevin StensonDavid StoneDenise TreaseClara TrubodyEllen VieiraNancy and John WagnerCarolina WebbKelly Weintraub and Gregory WillisMichael and Vreni WelserWild Birds UnlimitedSally and Frank WilliamsLaura and Dave WillisBilly G. WilsonGloria Wyeth

In Memory of Philip Hyde

Tom and Susan BeanJoanie and Mike CassityKate GraceFrederic and Shirley GunskyPaula KatzCarol KearnsGordon Keller and Jeanette BraunerClinton and Charla KingWalt and Betsy KraemerRob LewineBarbara and James McMillinChuck and Helga PetkovichMelody and Bill RockettDevin and Martha SchaferMarvin and Norberta SchmidtJohn and Betsy Schramel

In Memory of Del Clifton

Gordon Keller and Jeanette Brauner

Inkind Gifts

Ada’s PlaceAdvanced Geological Exploration, Inc.Ken CasadayCarr CliftonFrank DavisDarla DeRuiter and Darell JuryFinishing TouchGeorge FlukeKim FlutyMartha FlynnRichard HardyPete Hentschel

Judge Janet HildeAlice KingBetsy and Walt KraemerAndy and Heather LernerBruce LivingstonJeff and Shelley LongBeau McNicholasNancy NeerNeff Family RanchPangaeaSusan PaulusPlumas ArtsPlumas County MuseumPlumas Massage TherapyBill and Kathy PetersSally PosnerQuincy StablesQuincy ThriftTom RahnReid Horse and Cattle CompanyCeci ReynoldsRiverside Rock/Cindy RobinsonRound Valley Run SponsorsMicaela RubalcavaMarty ShowerBetsy and John SchramelLee Anne SchramelSuzanne and Scott StirlingTaylorsville GrangeTaylorsville MuseumBud TurnerErik WeberLeah WillsBecky YostSally Yost

Clare Churchill, Vice President with Plumas Bank, presents a check for FRLT’s Learning

Landscapes Initiative to Paul Hardy.

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P.O. Box 1826 Quincy CA 95971

530-283-5758 frlt@frlt.org www.frlt.org

Protecting the places that make the Feather River Region special.Zoie Dalby, 1st grade. Zoie is now in third grade at Chester Elementary School. Photograph by Rob Wade