In 2026, Siskiyou Land Trust completed its largest conservation project to date through a historic collaborative effort with EFM and Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC). Over 40,000 acres of Scott River Headwaters forest in Northern California’s Mid-Klamath basin are now protected forever. The project protects a vast working forest landscape that forms much of the Scott Valley viewshed, where private timberlands meet the Klamath and Shasta-Trinity National Forests.
Together, the four conservation easements protect working forests, headwaters streams, alpine meadows, wildlife habitat, public trail access, and important connections between wilderness areas and conserved ranchlands in the Scott River valley below. The conserved lands include forest tracts adjacent to the Marble Mountain Wilderness, Russian Wilderness, and Trinity Alps region near Callahan, linking ecological corridors across a larger landscape of more than 770,000 acres of designated alpine wilderness and 25,000 acres of conserved ranchlands.
The Scott River Headwaters contain exceptional ecological diversity, including 275 miles of headwaters streams, more than 700 acres of alpine meadow, and a portion of one of the world’s most diverse conifer forest assemblages. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Areas of Conservation Emphasis tool ranks the property high for aquatic biodiversity and climate change resilience. With more than a dozen streams and the South Fork of the Scott River running through the project area, this conservation effort supports cold-water habitat, salmon recovery, watershed health, and long-term forest resilience.
Three of the four easements closed in December 2020. The final section, the Shackleford block, closed in spring 2026, completing Siskiyou Land Trust’s largest project to date and permanently protecting 40,000 acres of working forest, wildlife habitat, watershed resources, and wildfire-resilient forest buffers.
Jefferson Public Radio featured Siskiyou Land Trust’s successful effort to conserve 40,000 acres in Siskiyou County. Read the full story here: Read the full story.
As conservation easement holder and long-term steward, Siskiyou Land Trust will continue to monitor and uphold the terms of the easements in perpetuity, ensuring that the conservation promises made through this partnership endure for future generations.
Shackleford Falls, 2026
The Wildcat block, one of four project areas, sits toward the south end of Scott Valley against the Russian Wilderness. Sugar Creek, French Creek, and the South Fork Scott River run through this 8,269-acre block. The Sugar Creek drainage is home to “the Miracle Mile,” renowned as one of the richest conifer assemblages on Earth, according to conifer expert Michael Kauffmann. Funding for this conservation easement was secured through the Wildlife Conservation Board’s Climate Change Initiative program.
The Whiskey block, encompassing 18,683 acres, sits near the city of Etna and the Marble Mountain Wilderness. It includes Kidder, Patterson, Crystal, and Etna Creeks. Etna Creek provides water to the city of Etna. The Whiskey block conservation easement was selected to receive funding through the CAL FIRE Forest Legacy Program in spring 2019.
The Shackleford block, at 12,214 acres, sits farthest north along the western edge of Scott Valley and is adjacent to the Marble Mountain Wilderness. Within it lies Big Meadow, which provides habitat for rare and threatened species and serves as an access point to Shackleford Falls and nearby aspen groves. The Shackleford block conservation easement was funded by the Wildlife Conservation Board and the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program, is held by CAL FIRE, and is monitored by SLT.
Bouvier Ranch, at 1,596 acres, lies upstream of Callahan on the South Fork of the Scott River, the most important source of cold, clean water flowing into the mainstem of the river. The Scott River watershed is the most important producer of coho salmon in the Klamath Basin. Inspired by the opportunity to support salmon recovery, Western Rivers Conservancy purchased the property when it went up for auction in 2017 and began a partnership with SLT to place a conservation easement on the ranch. The easement will preserve the ranch’s pristine streams and ensure that restoration work on the river can continue. It will also support sustainable forest stewardship practices and prevent habitat fragmentation.
