Protecting Biodiversity on the Cottonwood Easement
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Just outside Oroville, we help make sure burrowing owls and rare vernal pool critters will always have a place to be. In partnership with CalTrans, we hold the conservation easement on a 576-acre open space parcel outside Oroville. This parcel, rich in vernal pools is protected under a grazing easement that ensures it will continue to be used by Butte County ranchers to grow healthy grass-fed animals forever. We monitor the condition of the land several times a year to make sure it is still providing all the habitat values CalTrans intended. This easement serves as mitigation for the Wicks Corner/Hwy 149 interchange. Photo credit: Alan Vernon [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]