A very nice addition to the lands along the Truckee River, truly one of our area’s most beautiful rivers, and the result of a well-done public/private partnership.
Sale protects Truckee corridor
State, Nature Conservancy pay $2 million for river canyon land that links two national forests.
By Barbara Barte Osborn - Bee Correspondent
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, June 22, 2007
Public acquisition of 3,344 scenic acres in the Truckee River Canyon was announced Thursday by the Nature Conservancy.
The $2 million purchase links hundreds of thousands of acres of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest to the Tahoe National Forest and is an important migration corridor for wildlife, said conservancy spokeswoman Misty Herrin.
The land, which includes seven miles along the river, is on the California side of the state line between Truckee and Reno, both of which are experiencing rapid development.
"The concept of protecting contiguous pieces of property is essential for wildlife corridors and habitat conservation," said state Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman.
The agency, through the 2002 River Parkways Grant Program, provided $1.5 million toward the purchase of the Sierra Pacific Power Co. land.
The conservancy, which brokered the deal, used private funds for the remainder.
"It's exactly the kind of project for which these general obligation bond dollars were designed," Chrisman said.
"What you have here is a classic private-public partnership -- a broad collaboration to protect a very valuable watershed."
