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News Release
Media Contact:
Aimee Rutledge
Sacramento Valley Conservancy
916.492.0908 or 916.425.5879
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TWO-YEAR OPEN SPACE QUEST COMPLETED IN EAST COUNTY
Second Half of Deer Creek Hills Purchase Complete
Sacramento, Calif. –October 3, 2003. Three years after Sacramentans voted not to
develop it and two years after launching an effort to acquire it, the Sacramento Valley
Conservancy announced the successful purchase of the last 2008 acres of the Deer Creek
Hills property, the final victory in the nonprofit organization’s effort to preserve more
than 4000 acres of oak woodlands and grasslands in East Sacramento.
“Working against the clock through two years of fundraising, the Sacramento
Conservancy has succeeded once again in fulfilling the community’s will by completing
the purchase of Deer Creek Hills,” said county supervisor Roger Niello, co-chair of the
Select Fund Committee for Deer Creek Hills. “The Conservancy’s acquisition preserves
land that will provide recreational and scenic opportunities for generations of
Sacramentans.”
SVC will continue the ranching traditions of the area by entering into a cattle
grazing lease with the family that has grazed the site for over 40 years. In addition, the
agreement between SVC and its funding partners requires development of a management
plan over the next three years to determine long-term uses. Habitat preservation,
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Community Support Completes Purchase of Deer Creek Hills Preserve
continued ranching and public recreation are the main objectives of the plan. SVC
currently leads docent tours of the property every fourth Saturday from January through
May and hosts special-request hikes for groups, depending on the availability of docents.
“At Deer Creek Hills, less than a mile from developed roads and only 15 minutes
from urban areas, you stand surrounded by gnarled blue oaks, rolling hills, and views of
the valley and Sierras,” stated Hal Taines, seller of Deer Creek Hills to SVC. “This is
some of the most beautiful land in the Sacramento area and SVC has saved the
opportunity for our children and their children to be as impressed by it as I was when I
first saw it over 30 years ago.”
SVC signed an option agreement to purchase Deer Creek Hills in October 2001,
and over the next two years raised $11.4 million from public agencies, private
foundations, corporate donors and over 400 individuals to enable the purchase of the over
4000 acre Deer Creek Hills preserve.
“Deer Creek Hills protects open space at the eastern edge of Sacramento in a way
that makes sense, by preserving some of the fast-disappearing oak woodlands along the
Sierra foothills,” said Al Wright, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Board,
the largest single contributor to the Deer Creek Hills project at $4 million.
SVC now faces the challenge of raising an additional $3 million to provide an
endowment for management of the property, support docent-led hikes, and develop a
management plan as well as future uses.
“Deer Creek Hills has the potential to add a regional treasure on the scale of the
American River Parkway,” stated Matt Mahood, President and CEO of the Sacramento
Metro Chamber of Commerce, which recently named SVC as one of the top small
nonprofits in the six-county region. "The Metro Chamber's leadership has strongly
supported the conservancy's efforts to add Deer Creek Hills to our open space
infrastructure, permanently enhancing our region's desirability and quality of life."
Aimee Rutledge, executive director of SVC, stressed the need to get to work
immediately on raising funds for the management endowment for Deer Creek Hills, as
well as to continue SVC’s other land acquisition efforts.
-MORE-
Community Support Completes Purchase of Deer Creek Hills Preserve
“We’ve set the cornerstone on Sacramento’s open space future by
completing the purchase of Deer Creek Hills; now we need continued community support
to insure good, sound management of the site, and to move forward on other land
acquisition efforts of tremendous value to the people of Sacramento,” declared Rutledge.
SVC owns a majority interest in the Deer Creek Hills land and will manage the
site, while Sacramento County owns a minority interest. California State Parks also owns
a part of the property. SVC’s other funding partners for the purchase include the Wildlife
Conservation Board, the US Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project
Conservation Program, the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Central Valley Project
Improvement Act Habitat Restoration Program, CALFED, CALTRANS, the California
State Resources Agency, A. Teichert & Son, Inc., the Soderquist Fund of the Sacramento
Regional Foundation, the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation-on behalf of the David &
Lucile Packard Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Trust for
Public Land, the City of Folsom, the Sacramento Audubon Society, and the California
Native Plant Society.
About the Sacramento Valley Conservancy:
The Sacramento Valley Conservancy is private, nonprofit land trust founded in
1990 on the two basic principles that open lands are necessary for quality of life and that
we must save land today so future generations will enjoy its benefits. SVC buys land
only from willing sellers, and works cooperatively with private landowners and public
and private funding sources. More information about SVC, including the East
Sacramento County Blue Oak Hills project, our Sacramento Prairie Vernal Pool Area, the
Dry Creek Parkway, and other projects can be found on the organization’s website at
www.sacramentovalleyconservancy.org.
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