Sale protects Truckee corridor

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."

The purchase includes many miles of tributary streams with large stands of cottonwoods and willows that provide habitat for yellow warblers and other birds. The upland areas are movement corridors for wildlife, including the Loyalton-Truckee mule-deer herd.

"This gateway to California will now remain forever wild," said Mike Conner, the conservancy's project director. He added that the deal protects "a spectacular and ecologically important canyon."

Most of the property is upland in the canyon, west of the river and Interstate 80, between Floriston and Verdi.

The state Department of Fish and Game will own and manage the 3,252-acre upland portion, and the Truckee Meadows Water Authority will own 92 acres in the riparian corridor, Herrin said.

Public access will be allowed on the water authority's riverside acres for "passive recreation," such as rafting, fishing and birdwatching, she said.

The Truckee Donner Land Trust, which played a role in securing the funding, will hold a public access and conservation easement to the 92 acres and intends to open them to the general public, she said.

The water authority will retain the option to use that stretch of the river for the generation of hydroelectricity in the future, but has no specific plans in place at this time, Herrin said.