EEL RIVER EMERALD NECKLACE
A LANDSCAPE-LEVEL CONSERVATION PROJECT
BACKGROUND
The 196-mile Eel River system is the third largest watershed river system in California draining into more than 3,500 square miles across five counties, all within the state.
In 1981, the Eel River and its major tributaries were designated National Wild and Scenic Rivers. Recently, the Eel was identified as one of the most endangered river systems in the United States.
AN UNPROTECTED LANDSCAPE
Ninety percent of the Wild and Scenic main stem is in unprotected private ownership along the river’s 150 mile course between the Cape Horn Dam to the Pacific Ocean.
Significant public lands along the main stem are primarily limited to the Humboldt Redwoods State Park and the Eel River Wildlife Area at the north estuary managed by the California Department of Fish and Game.
RECREATION AND WILDERNESS ADVOCACY
In California, wilderness preservation advocacy is challenged by changing recreational trends. Today’s young adults prefer mountain biking to backpacking. Since the Outdoor Industry Foundation started keeping records seven years ago, the numbers of backpackers have declined, but the number of kayak paddlers has doubled. The Eel River Wilderness Preserves will be a premiere wilderness experience and address many of the most popular forms of outdoor recreation including, fishing (36%), hiking (34%), camping (30%), and paddling (14%).
The proposed Great Redwood Trail will utilize the transportation corridor created by the now defunct Northwestern Pacific Railroad. The trail will bicycle use, enticing one of America’s most popular outdoor user groups, bicycling (39%), to camp on the wilderness edge.
WILD RUNS
More than a half-million salmon and steelhead trout once ran the Eel River annually. Two dams have blocked the main stem of the Eel River for nearly a century, diverting up to 90 percent of the summer flow, preventing salmon and steelhead runs from reaching hundreds of miles of spawning grounds. Today, the salmon and steelhead runs are at an all-time low. The Eel River Emerald Necklace project will complement existing efforts to restore the Eel River and will serve to convince officials that they have a private-sector partner dedicated to land stewardship and the river’s restoration.
THE VISION
ACQUISITION & ACCESS
The Wildlands Conservancy is targeting major ranch and forest lands that have substantial frontage and important biological, cultural and scenic value on the Main Stem of the Eel River. With opportunities for rafting or kayaking, the vision is to give people a journey back in time. Explorers will approach magnificent forests and breathtaking views by way of the river, and so change the dynamic of their nature experience.
HABITAT PROTECTION & REHABILITATION
This great western river deserves a landscape protection program as inspiring as the ancient redwoods on its banks and the heroic landscapes that rise from its shores. The Wildlands Conservancy’s goal in establishing the Eel River Emerald Necklace is to acquire a system of preserves along the Emerald River between Dos Rios and the Pacific. These preserves will help protect over 75 mammal species and over 400 bird species found in the watershed. Preserve stewardship will focus on habitat restoration, removing roads and re-wilding wilderness areas passive recreation and outdoor education.
OUTDOOR EDUCATION
The Eel River Emerald Necklace will be an excellent site for The Wildlands Conservancy to carry out its dual mission of landscape preservation and outdoor education. A “River Quest” program will immerse young people with the rhythms of nature as they learn among noble stands of redwoods and alongside the calming Eel River. Hands on lessons, including riparian, terrestrial, and marine ecology, will foster an understanding and respect of nature and a lifelong love of natural beauty. Programs will promote self-confidence and self-esteem, and the opening of minds and hearts to new hopes and new horizons.
Outdoor education at Eel River Estuary Preserve
ACQUISITIONS
2005 » SPYROCK RESERVE
The scenic Spyrock Ranch has five miles of Eel River frontage and draws its name from the 540-foot conical rock promontory that rises from its eastern shore. The Wildlands Conservancy acquired the 5,832-acre Spyrock Ranch for $2,900,000.
2008 » EEL RIVER ESTUARY PRESERVE
The Wildlands Conservancy acquired the Connick Ranch, with 1100 acres of beachfront, coastal wetlands, sloughs, and creeks, and a quarter mile of frontage along the south spit of the Eel River creating the Eel River Estuary Preserve.
2009 » SOUNDING SEAS DUNES RESERVE
Through a generous grant from the Irving and Jean Stone Foundation, Wildlands purchased two-and-a-half miles of dunes and ocean frontage adjoining Eel River Estuary Preserve.
2021 » EEL RIVER CANYON PRESERVE
After a two-and-a-half-year effort, and with support from private donors, volunteers, state agencies, partner organizations, and elected leaders, The Wildlands Conservancy has secured the 29,600-acre Lone Pine Ranch―which will be known as the Eel River Canyon Preserve. The property includes fantastic geology, 18 miles of river frontage, carbon sequestering forests, herds of Roosevelt elk, and significant wetlands.