LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Land Trust reported that it is undertaking its most ambitious acquisition yet as part of the Big Valley Wetlands Preservation Project.

The acquisition of the 200-acre Wright property, just southwest of the city of Lakeport will significantly add to the protected wetlands on the shores of Clear Lake.

Because they recognize the value of this project to the overall health of Clear Lake and value responsible ecological stewardship, Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon owners Lynne and Bernie Butcher are championing this cause by offering $40,000 as a 50-percent match; essentially, they are challenging the community to come up with $80,000 which they will answer with $40,000 in order to meet the fundraising goal of $120,000.

This means that for every $2 that comes in for this project, the Butchers will contribute $1 up to $40,000, helping the Land Trust get to their goal and making other donor dollars go farther.

“We think that the Big Valley Wetlands is of the highest priority for the Land Trust. And anyone who walks this magnificent lakefront parcel will most likely agree with us that it will be a cornerstone of the Trust’s preservation efforts in this vital area,” Bernie Butcher said.

This beautiful and significant shoreline property is south of the city of Lakeport in the Big Valley Wetland area. Habitats found on the property include lake, freshwater marsh, pasture, valley foothill riparian and valley oak woodland.

The property is home to black-tailed deer, California quail, wild turkey, prairie falcon, otter, bobcat, black bass, catfish, waterfowl, and habitats that support special status species including Clear Lake hitch and western pond turtle.

The project is an important part of the State Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Big Valley Wetlands Conceptual Area Protection Plan, or CAPP.

The North Central Region of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is urging the Wildlife Conservation Board to support the Land Trust’s request for fee title acquisition of the property, which NCR staff consider a priority for conservation.

The wetlands in the Big Valley area stretch from the Clear Lake State Park, all the way to the southern boundaries of the city of Lakeport. According to the CAPP, they represent the most significant remaining unprotected wetland habitats on the shores of Clear Lake, comprising about one-third of the remaining wetlands along the lake.

The value of this area, along with the creeks flowing through it, is recognized by both county and state agencies, thus the approval in 2014 of the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s CAPP.

In order to receive a grant from the State’s Wildlife Conservation Board, which is the land protection funding arm for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Lake County Land Trust must supply some matching funds for the purchase of this property.

In this case, the Land Trust’s match will be $100,000 – plus $20,000 for property improvements, upkeep, and stewardship – estimated to be approximately 15 percent of the current value of the property.

The Big Valley Wetlands Preservation project has been a leading goal of the Lake County Land Trust for more than 10 years. It emerged at the top of the Land Trust’s Land Conservation Priority Plan when the plan was first developed in 2006 and once again took the top spot when the Priority Plan was updated last year.

The Land Conservation Priority Plan was developed using a series of workshops which convened federal, state, and local experts in land use and natural resources, along with active citizen stakeholders in Lake County.

The group was asked to prioritize areas and/or issues that they felt were most worthy of conservation because of future threats from development and conversion.

To learn more about this project or the Lake County Land Trust, or to make a donation, please visit www.lakecountylandtrust.org.