Your Support helps protect more land than you may know
Landscape-scale conservation victories like Frog Lake and Lower Carpenter Valley are the Truckee Donner Land Trust projects that grab the most attention, and for good reason. From the sheer acreage they protect, to the special landscapes they open to the public, these projects make headlines and bring new people to the Land Trust.
You may not hear as much, however, about the smaller land acquisitions that provide key benefits to conservation and recreation. Acquisitions that knit together adjacent protected lands, link key habitat for wildlife, provide trail connectivity for the public to enjoy, and preserve the unique character of our region. You make their conservation possible.
Over the last 32 years the Land Trust preserved dozens of properties under 100 acres each. On its own, no single project may have the impact of a Waddle Ranch or Webber Lake, but collectively, they’ve made a huge difference in the landscape of our region. Please make a gift today to support conservation victories – big and small – tomorrow.
Typically, the Land Trust must act quickly to acquire smaller lands without the time to mount a public fundraising campaign. Instead, the Land Trust relies on your donations in response to letters like this to preserve them and open them for the public to enjoy.
As I’m writing this, the Land Trust is working to preserve one of these smaller parcels – a gorgeous 60-acre plot of land just beneath the Sierra Crest, critical to wildlife and watershed health. It is also a popular destination for recreation in the summer and winter. This property is the latest in a long line of lesser-known projects protected through your support for the Truckee Donner Land Trust.
The Land Trust started small, preserving properties in Coldstream Canyon and along Schallenberger Ridge near Donner Lake, one at a time. And cumulatively, these projects, totaling 2,300 acres, were donated to Donner Memorial State Park, tripling its size.
Early supporters of the Land Trust ensured that these acquisitions ultimately preserved forested areas, increased the health of Donner Lake’s watershed, and created additional public access that wasn’t available before their purchase.
More recently, your support helped the Land Trust acquire an 80-acre inholding in the middle of Lower Carpenter Valley. This project is important to the ongoing care of Carpenter Valley and the trail that meanders along the edge of the beautiful meadow that so many of us enjoy.
You make these acquisitions possible. And with dozens more small properties on our radar, your continued support is more important than ever before. Please help us continue this important work by making a gift today.
Many of the Land Trust’s smaller projects are spread throughout our community. They preserve greenspace buffers between neighborhoods to protect wildlife corridors, maintain community character, and offer access to wild places from different parts of our region.
From the Winter Creek wetland along Brockway Road, to Airport Flats in the Martis Valley, these protected lands are as integral to this special part of the Sierra as our historic buildings and iconic viewsheds.
Other smaller projects – acquired thanks to your support – are scattered farther afield. Unprotected, those properties could negatively impact the open space around them with incompatible uses, differing management, and wildfire threat. Once acquired, however, the Land Trust manages them cohesively and holistically with the lands that surround them.
Whether the next Land Trust project is in a remote part of the forest, or in your backyard, we hope you consider this work as important to conservation as the Land Trust does.
Your donation today will help ensure that when the next potential acquisition arises, big or small, we’ll be able to seize the opportunity and make sure it remains open space for nature, for people, forever.
Together, the 10-, 50-, and 80-acre properties the Land Trust conserves add up to thousands of acres of open space. Collectively, they quietly increase the continuity of landscape-scale conservation and weave it into our neighborhoods and communities.
With major acquisitions on the horizon adding up to thousands of acres, these smaller projects may continue to be overshadowed, and the Land Trust will have less time to raise the necessary funds to preserve them. That’s where your support comes in.
You and other steadfast supporters show up year after year through your generosity, your passion, and your commitment to conservation. Together we can make these small projects add up to big wins. Thank you for your support.
With warm regards,
John Svahn, Executive Director