The Nature Conservancy

Clear Creek

853 acres of some of the most ecologically rich and scenic stretches of Clear Creek on the eastern slope of the Carson Range of the Sierra Nevada are now permanently protected thanks to a partnership between Clear Creek Tahoe and The Nature Conservancy.

Clear Creek is the only tributary to the main stem of the Carson River that flows year round, making its water very important for the entire Carson watershed. The easement safeguards a large swath of land around the creek that will help the water remain pristine and clean. The easement parcels combine with neighboring Forest Service and Washoe Tribal land to provide a larger, unfragmented corridor of habitat that is particularly important as winter range for the declining mule deer population in the area.

The easement's critical habitat also includes:

Alder and willow riparian
Montane meadow
Jeffrey pine forest
Bitterbrush and sagebrush scrub

The area supports more than:

70 species of mammals
170 species of birds including northern goshawks, mountain quail, and western bluebirds
21 species of reptiles and amphibians.

Clear Creek Tahoe donated the conservation easement on the 853 acre parcel in the Clear Creek watershed to The Nature Conservancy, ensuring that the land remains natural open space in perpetuity. A conservation easement is a voluntary, legally binding agreement that limits certain types of uses or prevents development from taking place on a piece of property now and in the future, while protecting the property’s ecological or open-space values.

“We are honored to have The Nature Conservancy as our land steward partner,” said Jim Taylor, Managing Partner of Clear Creek Tahoe. “We hope that this project and the work we have done to include protected open space can become a model for how to balance development and caring for the environment in other projects in the future.”

Crowd

The conservation easement is adjacent to a project by Clear Creek Tahoe which includes a planned community and a golf course, and is just one of the elements that help make the project more environmentally friendly. “I was expecting to see a sea of bright green when I arrived – golf courses and other artificial things, but you can’t even see the golf course from here . . . this is beautiful and natural,” said Margie Evans, Clear Creek Watershed Council Coordinator, of the scenic ridgelines and open meadow protected by the easement. The conservation easement is part of a larger effort to protect important pieces of the Clear Creek watershed, an effort that involves a diverse group of partners including Carson City and Douglas counties, the US Forest Service Carson Ranger District, the Carson River Coalition, the Clear Creek Watershed Council, and the Washoe Tribe. “We owe this great success and the protection of a crucial piece of the Clear Creek and Carson River watersheds to the work of many dedicated partners, as well as the citizens of Carson City and Douglas County who worked to see a portion of this landscape conserved,” said Kathryn Landreth, State Director of The Nature Conservancy.

Kathryn

Kathryn Landreth State Director for Nevada speaking at a celebration of the easement.