3,244 Acre Marble Creek Property Conserved

We’re pleased to announce 3,244 acres of forest, oak woodland, and riparian land located east of the Pit River, and northeast of Shasta Lake, now protected forever! The property will be owned and managed by Berkeley Forests, UC Berkeley’s Center for Forestry and Fire Research and Outreach, with the intent to develop and test management strategies for forested watersheds to adapt to climate change.

• The property will be the sixth research forest for the University of California, and will be their first research forest within the Shasta-Cascades region, providing access to different habitats and ecosystems that will expand the University's capabilities for environmental studies.

• Environmental research may include studies focusing on water quality, greenhouse gas fluxes related to forest vegetation, timber growth and yields, fire risk, and pests and diseases, to determine how those factors impact corresponding habitats for rare plant and animal species.

• The property lies within the Pit River watershed and encompasses sections of Marble Creek and Cape Horn Creek, as well as 27 ephemeral streams.

• Protection of the numerous wetlands, groundwater springs, and surrounding Lower Pit River watershed will protect essential habitat for threatened and endangered aquatic and invertebrate species in the region.

• The property provides substantial prime habitat for many bat species and provides high-quality nesting and foraging habitat for special status raptor species, including a variety of ospreys, hawks, owls, harriers and eagles.

The protection of this biodiverse property and its potential for critical ecological research in this environmentally sensitive time will be an enormous asset to our understanding of how to best mitigate climate change impacts. We look forward to partnering with Berkeley Forests as a resource for local studies that can positively impact our region’s resilience to climate change and fire threats.