Miller Demonstration State Forest

We’re pleased to announce the permanent protection of the Miller Demonstration State Forest, a 2,246 acre property located in the Cow Creek area southeast of Redding. This property was protected in 2022 in partnership with the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council and CAL FIRE. The property supports our vibrant agricultural and ranching community, providing copious livestock grazing lands, rich riparian habitats, and scenic open space. This biodiverse property supports many native and migratory wildlife species with a variety of habitats and waterways contributing to a larger area of contiguous conserved agricultural and protected land in the Cow Creek region.

Primarily used for ranching purposes, two grazing leases held on a total of 2,028 acres provides considerable open space for the property’s livestock grazing needs. The property’s abundant grasslands provide ample forage for more than 80 cattle on the larger leased section of land between October and March each year. 

Additional smaller sections of the property are used for a sustainable timber harvesting operation, managed under PG&E’s Whitmore Timber Management Unit, as well as a small beekeeping farm managed by Olivarez Honey Bees, Inc. This range of agricultural lands, supporting ranching, timber, and beekeeping industries provides a multitude of benefits by enhancing the local agricultural economy, maintaining the rural character of the region, and providing fire-safe buffers of well-managed and grazed open space.

The property comprises a rich mosaic of habitats including oak woodlands, oak savannah, annual grasslands, riparian woodlands, and seep wetlands. A range of tall ponderosa pines, black oak, and blue oak provide shaded woodlands interspersed by large swaths of open space consisting of grasslands and chaparral shrubs. Willows, white alders, valley oaks, and fragrant Himalayan blackberries grow in abundance along the property’s streambanks. 

Crossed by Mill Creek and South Cow Creek, the property’s significant riparian habitats provide incredible ecological value and support a variety of fish species. South Cow Creek provides essential riparian habitat for fall-run Chinook salmon and the federally threatened Central Valley steelhead, in addition to other aquatic species of special concern. 

We are pleased to support the agricultural and ranching community, native wildlife, and rural character of the region with this new property which will now be protected forever!