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Saving Natural Lands, Now and Forever |
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Site of a possible dam is set aside for conservation
Mark Grossi The Sierra Foothill Conservancy this week set aside 719 acres of Madera County land to protect it from future development -- except the federal government is studying the same place as a possible dam site. With the help of landowner Ben Ewell and the Trust for Public Land, the conservancy preserved the acreage around Fine Gold Creek, which empties into Millerton Lake from the north. Fine Gold, a tributary of the San Joaquin River, is one of three options in a $16 million federal study for a new dam above Millerton. The other two are at Temperance Flat, upstream on the San Joaquin. Conservancy officials said they were not trying to prevent a dam from being built at Fine Gold. They said the property acquisition was in the works long before the current dam study began in 2003. For the last six years, the conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit land conservation group, had worked with Ewell on buying acreage. The conservancy has long been interested in the land as a valued habitat for the threatened Valley elderberry longhorn beetle and a diversity of animals and plants. "When we became aware of [federal] plans, we took a hard look at dropping the project but ultimately decided that the chances of the dam being placed in that location were remote, and so continued with the project," conservancy executive director Chuck Peck said Friday. If the decision is made to build a dam at Fine Gold, federal officials said, it could trump the conservancy's new preserve, and some similar property would have to be provided. "We would have to find a replacement site," said Patricia Roberson, who heads the dam investigation for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns and operates Friant Dam at Millerton. "We will continue to investigate Fine Gold as an alternative, but no decisions have been made." The conservancy has worked since 1996 with landowners who would like to see their property protected from development. The group focuses on foothill land -- known for blue oak woodlands and volcanic table mountains -- between Yosemite and Kings Canyon national parks. The Trust for Public Land paid Ewell $1.9 million to preserve the 719 acres, which officials said has been valued at more than $3 million. They added that Ewell made a cash contribution of $190,000. The conservancy will manage the property, which was named the Austin and Mary Ewell Memorial Preserve in memory of Ewell's parents. "My parents loved and respected the land," Ewell said this week. "For hundreds of years, people will come to enjoy this." The reporter can be reached at mgrossi@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6316.
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Copyright 2000, Sierra Foothill Conservancy - Prather, California |
