The Land Trust is pleased to announce the acquisition of 262 acres in an area of the county that is a top priority for biodiversity, in the heart of Snell Valley, where serpentine soils give rise to one of California’s most spectacular wildflower displays. The property is next to the Land Trust’s Wildflower Preserve on Snell Valley Road. This area of serpentine soils has some of the highest numbers of rare wildflower species in the region.
The serpentine soils in this area are uniquely low in nutrients and high in heavy metals—a combination that discourages most non-native plants, but allows rare, native wildflowers to thrive. This includes species found almost nowhere else, making protection of this habitat a regional and ecological priority.
To protect these native wildflowers from invasive species and to reduce fuel loads, the Land Trust has completed several controlled burns in this area. The burns remove fuel that is created by invasives, particularly barbed goat grass. Because of its barbs, this grass does not provide good forage for cattle, and controlled burns are the best way to remove it. Once removed, the native wildflowers can expand their numbers without any need for re-seeding.
This latest acquisition is also adjacent to over 5,000 acres that the Land Trust has previously protected through a number of transactions.
“Besides its rich botanical treasures,” said Doug Parker, CEO of the Land Trust, “the property is in a strategic location. It is directly between the 1,400-acre Snell Valley Ranch we protected a couple of years ago, our Wildflower Preserve, and the Grinsell Preserve, now 1,800 acres. This acquisition connects them together. And this is also a key step in protecting a priority wildlife corridor that extends eastward from Mount St Helena and Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.”
The property is completely undeveloped and includes a stretch of a perennial stream, Butts Creek.
This acquisition was made possible with the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which provided grant funding for the purchase.
Read the Napa Register story here.
