Wilderness Land Trust transfers 80 acres to the Bureau of Land Management to Add to the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness

The Wilderness Land Trust recently announced the permanent protection of 80 acres of formally private property along Red Chert Creek within the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness.  This land, formally owned by a local, private logging company, is located in Trinity County, California, north of Covelo, and northeast of Mendocino and Fort Bragg.  The Trust acquired the property in 2008 from private owners and worked to permanently protect the property by completing the transfer to the Bureau of Land Management and adding it to the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness.

The property was one of the few remaining inholding properties in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness.  When approached by The Trust in 2008, the owners welcomed the opportunity to receive a fair value for their property and to permanently protect its wilderness values.  The non wilderness use of the property was most likely as a commercial logging operation.

“This acquisition shows how persistence and longevity by The Trust is critical.  We purchased three critical inholdings from the same owners nine years ago.  At that time, they were not interested in selling this 80-acre inholding, their last logging property in designated wilderness.  When the owners were ready to sell, The Trust was there to pay fair market value, close quickly and help them permanently protect the property as wilderness,” said Reid Haughey.  “The Trust was happy to work with the Bureau of Land Management to transfer the property to them and ensure protection of our cherished wilderness.”

Said Lynda Roush, Field Manager, Arcata Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, “We appreciate our partnership with the Wilderness Land Trust and their efforts to help protect wilderness areas.”

The Mendocino National Forest manages the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness Area in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management.

“This new parcel will reduce fragmentation and help us better manage the public’s wilderness,” said Forest Supervisor Tom Contreras.

The United States Congress designated the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness in 1964 and it now has a total of approximately 181,510 acres, due to the recent addition donated by The Trust.

Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness

Located between the North and South Yolla Bolly Mountains in the headwater country of the Wild and Scenic Middle Fork of the Eel River, the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness ranges in elevation from 2,700 to 8,000 feet. The river crashes wildly in a deep canyon for approximately six miles, and, combined with sections of the 48 miles of river outside the Wilderness, forms what is arguably California's finest long white-water run.

Chamise and manzanita in the lower elevations give way to dense arrays of pine and fir cloaking numerous ridges. Vast grasslands open many of the steep hillsides. Summer wildflowers dramatically color large mountain meadows. Bear and deer populate the area, and September's hunting season brings the most human visitors. Water, unlike solitude, may be hard to find after midsummer. Most of the wilderness stands on national forestland, but a section on the western side is situated on BLM-managed public land.