Help Protect the First State Wildlife Area in El Dorado County
Standing on the El Dorado Ranch Phase 5 property, the rolling oak-covered hills seem to go on forever. As you approach a hilltop you find yourself looking over the single largest area of protected blue oak woodland in El Dorado County. As you gaze out across the canopy, the sounds of the Sierra Nevada foothills emerge: the distant calls of acorn woodpeckers, the screech of a red-tailed hawk, the trickle of a nearby stream, the hushed rustle of oak trees.
Some would choose to build homes and private estates on this precious land, just one hour from Sacramento near the Cosumnes River and El Dorado County’s wine country; but American River Conservancy (ARC) and our partners have other plans. Together, we have worked steadfast since 2012 to acquire and permanently protect this 7,178-acre property during five phases. When the entire ranch is protected, it will become the first State Wildlife Area in El Dorado County for the benefit of all.
ARC’s Phase 5 purchase of 2,997 acres is the last step in protecting this land.
You can help!
Collectively, we can preserve this place, which is the ancestral homelands of the Miwok people. We can maintain the property’s capacity to provide food and clean water for human and animal life. We can reconnect wildlife habitat and build resilience to mega-fires and climate change. We can secure an extraordinary oak woodland landscape for the enjoyment of future visitors and the health and well-being of over 2 million people who live near this spectacular place.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO ARC’S EL DORADO RANCH
ARC is pursuing philanthropic gifts, grants, and other funding sources for the total acquisition and stewardship cost of $14 million. With $8.5 million secured, we seek to raise the remaining $5.5 million by the end of 2025. We invite you to make a tax-deductible contribution to ARC to support this exciting project.100% of your donation will support ARC’s El Dorado Ranch acquisition.
Acquisition History
• Phase 5 – IN PROGRESS: 2,997 acres; In progress; $8.5 million SECURED, $5.5 million is still needed.
• Phase 4 – Complete: 1,024 acres; purchased December 2023. Funding secured from Wildlife Conservation Board, CA Natural Resources Agency, and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
• Phase 3 – Complete: 1,018 acres; purchased November 2018. Funding secured from Wildlife Conservation Board, CA Natural Resources Agency, and the County of El Dorado.
• Phase 2 – Complete: 1,080 acres; purchased October 2016. Funding secured from Wildlife Conservation Board, CA Natural Resources Agency, and the County of El Dorado.
• Phase 1 – Complete: 1,059 acres; purchased August 2013. Funding secured from Wildlife Conservation Board, CA Natural Resources Agency, and the Conservation Alliance.
What’s at Stake?
• The Phase 5 land to protect is 2,997 acres. The entire 7,178 acre property is over eight times the size of Central Park.
• 2,000+ acres are blue oak woodland, one of California’s largest and most at-risk ecosystems due to lack of legal protection and threat of development.
• Stands of oak woodland and foothill pine store large amounts of planet-warming carbon that continue storing carbon as they grow.
• The land contains biodiverse habitat for native plant and animal species, including western pond turtle, fall-run chinook salmon, steelhead, and California red-legged frog.
• It is the ancestral territory of the El Dorado Band of Miwok Indians, who also steward the nearby Ladies Valley property.
• This property is a buffer for the Cosumnes River, the last undammed river on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
• As a State Wildlife Area, it will expand opportunities for public recreation into south El Dorado County, including the beginning of a potential cross-county Cosumnes River trail.
For millennia, oak woodlands have defined the Sierra Nevada foothill landscape. While some oaks live longer than others, they generally take 1/3 of their life to grow, 1/3 to stay, and 1/3 to die. Throughout their lives, they are the keystone species, sustaining the various and intricate needs of the surrounding plant and animal life.
Acre by acre, ARC and our partners are protecting these heritage woodlands and the creeks and rivers that sustain them. Over the last decade we have permanently protected 4,025 acres of El Dorado Ranch, as well as the 1,737-acre Ervin Ranch downriver that will be managed as a secondary unit of the Wildlife Area.
El Dorado Ranch represents an effort to protect the region’s oak woodlands and the health of the Cosumnes River. The entire property contains 5,500 acres of oak woodland, over two miles of direct Cosumnes River frontage, and over 20 miles of creeks and streams that feed the river. While the entire Sierra foothill region was heavily impacted by the Gold Rush era, El Dorado Ranch has remained essentially unchanged. As a result, habitat on the ranch remains tremendously diverse compared to nearby areas that are terraced, fenced, and paved for residential living. This variety indicates a healthy landscape, the kind of rare place where native trees, shrubs, and forbs can continue growing and providing resources for native wildlife. At the same time, this preserved oak woodland stores large amounts of carbon at a time when the planet needs it most – today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.
Protecting this 7,178-acre property aligns with ARC’s vision for the Cosumnes River and its watershed as protected lands on the same scale as the American River. By forever remaining a critical wildlife corridor, sustaining the region’s water resources and needs, and facilitating human connections with the river, El Dorado Ranch will foster future appreciation for its own protection. It will also advance California’s 30×30 Plan to protect 30% of the state’s land and coastal waters by 2030 to help fight climate change and support biodiversity.
Within this landscape, swaths of blue and live oaks blanket the hilltops that undulate across the ranch, while valley oak, cottonwood, and willow populate the creeks and streams in between. It is home for black-tailed deer, coyotes, black bears, bobcats, California quail, acorn woodpeckers, and countless others. Pockets of grassland and chaparral provide texture and variation, bringing different colors and flavors where others flourish. Hummingbirds, native bees, black-tailed jackrabbits, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and many others will be found here. Safeguarding this stunning haven for native plants and animals, some rare or endangered, is a priority. The acquisition adds to an existing 14,000 acres of preserved and connected lands along the Cosumnes River as it transitions from the Sacramento Valley to the Sierra Nevada foothills, from lower watershed to upper watershed. As the single largest protected property within this area, it also includes a 15-mile stretch along the river.
In addition to its ecological richness, El Dorado Ranch possesses historical and cultural significance that must be protected as the human population continues rising. In this region, the Plains and Sierra Miwok traditionally lived between the Fresno River and Cosumnes River, in the eastern Central Valley of California, and the northern Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta region at the confluences of the Cosumnes River, Mokelumne River, and Sacramento River. The Miwok people have stewarded this land for millennia. Prior to European contact, many Native Californians traveled to and inhabited land within El Dorado Ranch.
Early European pioneers settled on this fertile land, beginning a long tradition of cattle ranching that persists in El Dorado County. Cattle ranching will continue as a necessary land management strategy when the Ranch becomes a State Wildlife Area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns the property?
ARC owns all of the Ranch minus 2,997 acres currently owned by Angelo Tsakopoulos Investments, which has leased the property for cattle grazing in the past.
With regional population increases, what is the threat of land development for this property?
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the property was slated for development. The owner/developer at the time, first received approval for the 1,000+ unit “Cinnabar” subdivision while El Dorado County was updating its General Plan. However, nearby residents and community groups opposed the approval and successfully reversed it. While the immediate threat of development diminished after this reversal, west El Dorado County has increased development pressure during the statewide housing shortage, which has steadily moved closer to El Dorado Ranch. ARC began the acquisition process in 2012 to take El Dorado Ranch “off the table” for any future development considerations.
In the last 30 years, the population of El Dorado County has increased by 100,000 residents, almost all localized within the western half of the county and less than 10 miles away from El Dorado Ranch. One of the nearest population centers, El Dorado Hills, has experienced a footprint increase from 1,000 to 10,000 acres. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) estimates a projected population increase of 811,000 people in the greater Sacramento Region by 2036. Per SACOG’s Regional Housing Needs Plan 2021-2029, El Dorado County must construct 5,353 housing units to meet its future housing needs. Recent development trends in El Dorado Hills along Latrobe Road, the Marble Valley development in Cameron Park, and Diamond Springs Parkway Improvement to the north are proof of continued and significant development as the population grows in the west El Dorado County region. The closest development threat is a ranchette subdivision on 2,600 acres just west of this property, via South Shingle Springs Road, which would become a throughway for the area. If that development plan is approved, it will become a precedent for dispersed subdivisions within the immediate vicinity of El Dorado Ranch and increase the threat of its future development.
What are the benefits of protecting this property?
Critical Fish and Wildlife Species: The Cosumnes River is the only river on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada that is free flowing and supports populations of the threatened fall-run Chinook salmon and steelhead that make their way from the ocean to spawning gravels in the river each year. It also acts as a conservation anchor point of blue oak woodlands, a mosaic of forest and savanna on the foothills of the coast range and Sierra Nevada, encircling the Central Valley of California. Many of the remaining blue oak woodlands were never systematically logged and still contain canopy-dominant individuals that are 150 to over 600 years old, making oak woodlands one of the most extensive old-growth forest types remaining in California.
Wildlife Connectivity: As the single largest protected property within this area, this Ranch includes a 15-mile stretch of the Cosumnes River. The land adds to west-east wildlife movement through the river corridor and north-south movement due to the elongated nature of the Ranch boundary. Varying topography with slopes in all cardinal directions provide refugia and microclimates for wildlife and plant life, maintaining high biodiversity. As the only undammed, free flowing river in the Sierra Nevada, there are many local, state, and federal efforts working to ensure the protection of the river and its associated upland habitats.
Public Access: El Dorado Ranch will become the first State Wildlife Area in El Dorado County, which will be open to the public for wildlife-based recreation, including hiking, wildlife-viewing, and hunting. It will be the only public recreation opportunity on “wild” lands within a 10-mile radius of the Ranch. As a condition of the Wildlife Area establishment, ARC is responsible for the construction of a parking lot and three miles of trail to facilitate access on the 7,178-acre property. While there are many other protected lands in the vicinity of the Ranch, there are no existing, well-established access points. The El Dorado County Parks and Recreation Department Master Trails Plan identifies a regional trail along the Cosumnes River, starting at the river’s headwaters and traversing east, through the Ranch, and eventually into the neighboring Sacramento County.
Ecological Services: The Ranch is in the Upper Cosumnes River watershed, contributing to the protection of an important water source for millions of Californians as it flows into the San Joaquin Delta. Protecting this intact oak woodland, riparian, grassland, and wetland habitat slows down the movement of water, which prevents erosion, filters nutrients and contaminants, improves groundwater recharge, and ultimately improves the quality of water flowing downstream. Preservation of the Ranch also eliminates the threat of new development, increasing the reliability of local water supplies by decreasing demand.
What types of habitats are on the property?
The entire property contains approximately 5,500 acres of oak woodland, 1,250 acres of annual grassland, 350 acres of mixed chaparral, and 30 acres of riparian habitat.
What is the condition of the oak woodlands in El Dorado Ranch?
Because of the size, continuity in land management as a cattle ranch, and topographic variability of the property, the oak woodland is in great health.
Will ARC conduct restoration in the oak woodland?
While long-term management responsibilities, including restoration, will ultimately belong to the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, throughout interim management ARC has worked with its grazing lessee to improve cross fencing and water systems for improved cattle grazing management that supports the property’s other habitat resources.
What are ARC’s long-term plans for the property?
When Phase 5 is complete, ARC will transfer the entire El Dorado Ranch property to CA Department of Fish and Wildlife to be managed as a State Wildlife Area.
Has ARC engaged with tribes on this project?
Yes. ARC has engaged with the El Dorado Band of Miwok, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok, and United Auburn Indian Community throughout various stages of the acquisition. The CA Department of Fish and Wildlife is committed to maintaining relationships with these tribes and considering future co-management arrangements that will support tribal and wildlife needs.
Will there be public access?
Yes. ARC is concurrently developing a trailhead, parking lot, and 3-mile trail to access the property. Once transferred to CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, further access opportunities and expansion will be considered and open to public input during the Land Management Plan development phase.
Ways to Help
ARC is pursuing philanthropic gifts, grants, and other funding sources for the total acquisition and stewardship cost of $14 million. With $8.5 million secured, we seek to raise the remaining $5.5 million by the end of 2025. We invite you to make a tax-deductible contribution to ARC to support this exciting project.100% of your donation will support ARC’s El Dorado Ranch acquisition.
Please donate, volunteer, and share this story.
Click here to DONATE to ARC’s acquisition of El Dorado Ranch.
