For Immediate UseContact: Garrison Frost
August 14, 2007(323) 951-9620

Yolo County, CA – As part of its ongoing effort to support and encourage the conservation of blue oak woodlands and other native lands northeast of San Francisco, Audubon California recently finalized a deal to acquire the 6,800-acre Bobcat Ranch. The acquisition will allow the organization to continue restoration work it began on the land in 2003, and provide a base to promote the restoration of habitat for birds and other wildlife on working ranches and farms in Central Valley and Coast Range.

The Audubon Bobcat Ranch land is a rich blend of important habitats, including blue oak woodland, native perennial grassland, seasonal wetland, riparian gallery forest and chaparral. The ranch is home to a variety of wildlife, including the lark sparrow, golden eagle, Lewis’ woodpecker, oak titmouse, Nuttall’s woodpecker and yellow-billed magpie, as well as bobcat, mountain lion, black-tailed deer and black bear.

“We appreciate the support from local ranchers and farmers who know that the Audubon Bobcat Ranch will help test innovative conservation practices that will benefit private landowners,” said Glenn Olson, executive director of Audubon California. “Livestock grazing will be an important tool that we use to restore and manage the Bobcat Ranch, and we’re looking to share the restoration techniques we learn there with nearby ranchers for use in the stewardship of their own properties.”

The Audubon Bobcat Ranch is an important conservation anchor within a much larger region. The ranch lays within the Blue Ridge-Berryessa Natural Area (BRBNA) a 750,000 acre amalgamation of private and public land uses. Also nearby are the 27,000-acre Blue Ridge BLM lands and Department of Fish and Game’s Putah Creek Wildlife Area and the Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve (which is part of the University of California Reserve System). The 7,000-acre Yolo Land and Cattle Company, approximately 5 miles to north, is under a conservation easement held by the California Rangeland Trust.

"Yolo Land and Cattle believes in the importance of running our business in an ecologically sustainable manner and along with local ranchers in the area are working with Audubon California Landowner Stewardship Program to further improve the watershed for the benefit of the native vegetation, wildlife and livestock,” said Scott Stone, of the Yolo Land and Cattle Company.

The acquisition of the Bobcat Ranch was made possible through a grant of $6.35 million from the State of California Wildlife Conservation Board, an additional $610,000 from the Great Valley Center’s Agricultural Transactions Program funded by a grant from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and contributions from Audubon chapters and other private sources. As a part of the transaction, the California Department of Fish and Game was granted a conservation easement over the ranch. In addition, the former owner of Bobcat Ranch, the Regent Trust, will provide Audubon California with a $1 million endowment to manage the property. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, which has played a significant role in the restoration work on the property, will continue to support the ongoing management of ranch.

“In the next 20 years hundreds of ranches will be changing hands as parents pass on family ranches and this creates an opportunity to help conserve California’s oak woodlands and working ranches,” said John Donnelly, Executive Director of the State of California Wildlife Conservation Board.

The Bobcat Ranch acquisition is just one of the many creative conservation projects that have arisen from Audubon California’s Landowner Stewardship Program, which works with private landowners to conserve and restore wildlife habitat on farms, ranches and other rural properties in a manner compatible with existing agricultural operations. The program seeks to maintain and enhance the physical and economic conditions for agriculture while improving habitat for wildlife.

About Audubon California

Audubon California is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. With more than 50,000 members in California and an affiliated 48 local Audubon chapters, Audubon California is a field program of Audubon. This relationship links Audubon California to a national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engaging millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in conservation.

More information is available at www.ca.audubon.org.