One Family’s Beloved Property is Now Protected Forever

Shasta Land Trust is excited to announce that an important wildlife corridor in Bella Vista is now preserved for future generations to come! Valleys End Nature Preserve is a 184-acre property that provides refuge and habitat for an incredible diversity of plants, wildlife, fish, and birds. The preserve is owned by Marlys Carusone and Larry and Yvonne Boisclaire who are longtime supporters of the land trust. These landowners have generously donated a conservation easement on this land, forever protecting this invaluable piece of Shasta County.

Valleys End Nature Preserve is a unique piece of land, with a variety of habitats that include conifers, manzanita, chapparal, wet meadows, grasslands, beautiful rock outcroppings, and blue oak woodland. Surrounded by public lands and ranches and located in the Cow Creek Watershed focus area of Shasta Land Trust, protecting the preserve connects an important wildlife corridor in Bella Vista, providing food, shelter, and a seasonal migration route to a variety of species.

The property contains two small lakes, Mirror Lake and Lake James, along with seasonal wetlands and creeks. These support all kinds of visitors throughout the year, including several rare species such as the Virginia rail and the tule goose, a sub-species of the greater white-fronted goose, as well as a breeding population of western pond turtles. Monarch butterflies are also raised and released on the property every year, supported by thousands of milkweed plants that grow there.  Elderberry bushes on the property provide breeding habitat to the endangered valley elderberry longhorn beetle, and oracle oaks, a rare hybrid between black oaks and live oaks, can also be found on the property. It was this diversity and richness of plants and wildlife that inspired the landowners to donate a conservation easement over the property to ensure that it remained a sanctuary for native species forever.

As residents on the preserve, protecting the property in this way has been a long-time goal of Larry and Yvonne Boisclaire. To safeguard the important habitat on the property, they work as its yearlong caretakers, removing invasive plants, managing oak and tree density for wildlife and fire safety, and even collecting and planting seeds for native grasses, milkweed, and other plants that support wildlife. Yvonne says, “From the beginning we sought to plant anything that would be favorable as a food source and refuge for wildlife… Mirror Lake is a magnet and haven for wildlife, from large to small… Roosevelt elk, black bears, bobcats, coyotes and mountain lions to rabbits and mice. When flocks of ducks fly in or animals come down to drink there will always be a safe haven for them at one lake or another.” Their love and care for their land is inspiring and their efforts have made Valleys End Nature Preserve a true biodiversity hotspot in Shasta County. The Shasta Land Trust is proud to add this Bella Vista gem to the protected properties list.