LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — When the Lake County Land Trust, or LCLT, developed a set of long term priorities for future acquisitions and conservation easements nearly 15 years ago, preservation of the wetlands along the western Clear Lake shoreline from Clear Lake State Park to south Lakeport in what came to be called the Big Valley Wetlands project came out at the top of the list.

Over the years Clear Lake has lost about 80% of its natural shoreline to development.

The tules, willows, cattails, native shrubs and other riparian vegetation along the edge of the lake provided prime habitat for birds and mammals and the tule marshes supported native and nonnative fish, including crucial juvenile rearing grounds for the endangered Clear Lake Hitch.

Loss of this key habitat has had significant adverse consequences for numerous species, and loss of the natural filtration provided by wetlands has played a major role in the degradation of water quality.

The largest wetland areas remaining on the lake are Anderson Marsh State Historic Park in the south, Rodman Slough to the north and the Big Valley Shoreline.

Unlike Anderson Marsh and Rodman, most of the Big Valley area is privately held, putting its outstanding natural values at risk.

The Land Trust therefore decided to target the lands in this area as its top priority.

In the words of LCLT founder and board member Roberta Lyons, “Our objective is to preserve and restore these lands either through fee title purchase or conservation easements with the purpose of improving this vital habitat for animals and providing recreation opportunities for residents and visitors alike.”

The purchase of the 200-acre Wright Ranch near south Lakeport in 2020 was a major step forward in implementing this objective.

Besides preserving the land from future development in perpetuity, goals include restoration of a significant portion of the property to the wetland habitat that existed before berms and dikes were constructed in the 1940s to “reclaim” it for grazing.

The plan is to breach the berm in order to create an additional 32 acres of seasonal wetland and to restore the population of Valley Oaks beyond the remnant grove that exists there now: these huge trees provide habitat for many species of invertebrates, birds and mammals while sequestering immense amounts of carbon.

These major restoration projects will require review under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, and permits from federal, state, and county agencies, starting with a wetland delineation and botanical survey to be conducted by biologist Steve Zalusky.

To augment this professional analysis, Land Trust Board member Merry Jo Velasquez has also recruited volunteers from among Land Trust members, Lake County Master Gardeners, the California Native Plant Society and others to survey the property and catalog its populations of both native and nonnative plants.

Although at first glance the latter seem to predominate by a wide margin, which is not surprising on land that has been heavily grazed for many years, a number of native species also persist on the property.

The first group of volunteers went out to the property on a sunny Saturday in April. After a crash course in the National Geographic Society’s iNaturalist App provided by UC McLaughlin Reserve Co-Managers Paul Aigner and Cathy Koehler, several dozen participants broke up into small groups and fanned out over the land, taking pictures and uploading them to an ever-increasing database.

According to Velasquez, “using iNaturalist as our main resource for identification has been an interesting and rewarding experience. I was intrigued by the common name of the flower Erodium circutarium, which is called Stork’s Bill even though this round pink flower looks nothing like the bill of a stork. A month later, after seed pods had formed, I discovered that Stork’s Bill perfectly describes them.”

Eventually the Land Trust hopes to be able to open the property for public use and enjoyment, but before this can happen a baseline management plan must be developed, trails delineated, and signage installed.

In the meantime, occasional field trips are being scheduled: to see this property before its transformation begins, contact Roberta Lyons at 707 994 2024 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Victoria Brandon is a board member for the nonprofit Tuleyome, based in Woodland, California.