TRUCKEE DONNER LAND TRUST

The Truckee Donner Land Trust’s mission is to preserve and protect scenic, historic and recreational lands with high natural resource value in the greater Truckee Donner Region and manage recreational activity on these lands in a sustainable fashion. This means protecting – either by purchasing or with a conservation easement – private properties working with a willing seller or land owner. The Land Trust aims to protect the private parcels in the Sierra Nevada Checkerboard to create a contiguous land management pattern with the public parcels (US Forest Service) so that habitats, watersheds and recreational opportunities such as trails are uninterrupted and unimpaired by rural sprawl. Other priority landscapes include lands in the Truckee River corridor, small green spaces in urban areas to serve as public parks and other areas with high natural resource values threatened by development. To facilitate recreational opportunities, the Land Trust creates sustainable user amenities designed to minimize impact to the environment while allowing the public to enjoy the land – including trails, picnic areas and benches, a campground and plans to have a backcountry ski hut. Once lands are protected and appropriate recreational facilities are constructed, the Land Trust stewards each property to ensure ongoing forest, watershed and ecosystem health for future generations.

The Land Trust partners with state and federal agencies as well as other nonprofits to preserve and protect priority landscapes, working with willing sellers to create a win-win situation for both private and public interests. We carry out our mission by negotiating land acquisitions, easements, and land exchanges. Once we succeed in protecting the land, we work with experts to revitalize potentially impaired ecosystems and watersheds, restore forests for forest health and wildfire resiliency, and create appropriate trails and other amenities for the public to enjoy. The Land Trust uses long-established relationships with public agencies and fellow nonprofits to create effective fundraising strategies needed to meet the significant capital needs for a project. Beyond fundraising, the Land Trust also uses significant volunteer efforts in building and maintaining trails.

The Land Trust has a long-established and proven track record of successful conservation in the Truckee Donner region, protecting more than 36,000 acres since 1990. We have a nimble, talented staff and work collaboratively with partner organizations to help maximize our impact. We have developed deep and long-standing relationships with the community at both the public and private level. Led by a board of directors made up of the community we serve, our success over the years has earned the Land Trust a solid reputation as an organization that operates with both purpose and integrity.

To date the Truckee Donner Land Trust has protected more than 36,000 acres of open space in the Truckee Donner region, built more than 45 miles of trails, and opened a campground available to the public. From a natural resource perspective, that acreage includes critical headwater sources for the Truckee River and Yuba River, forest, meadow, riparian and other key habitats, and connected many, many more acres of public lands to create a continuous land management pattern not disrupted by rural sprawl.
Notable projects include:
Donner Summit
• Blackwall – 11.9 acres
• Royal Gorge – 3000 acres
• Johnson Canyon – 351 acres
• Billy Mack Canyon – 400 acres
• Perrazzo Meadow – 982 acres
Martis Valley
• Hopkins Ranch – 219 acres
• Elizabethtown Meadows – 155 acres
• Waddle Ranch Preserve – 1462 acres
• Northstar – 60-acre conservation easement
Sierra Nevada Checkerboard
• Pierce Meadow – 160 acres
• Cold Stream Meadow – 1320 acres
• Devils Peak – 960 acres
• Snow Mountain – 640 acres
• Carpenter Ridge/ Independence Lake – 2400 acres
• Henness Pass – 7000 acres
• Webber Lake/Lacey Meadows – 3000 acres
• Lower Carpenter Valley – 1320 acres