Deal protects redwood forest in Anderson Valley
A sprawling redwood forest in southern Mendocino County has received permanent protection under a $24.7 million deal between a Bay Area environmental group and the property’s longtime owners, San Francisco’s socially and politically prominent Mailliard family.
Save the Redwoods League bought three conservation easements across the 14,838acre Mailliard Ranch in early February. The agreement will permanently safeguard the land in Anderson Valley, and its complement of the world’s tallest tree species, from subdivision and development, the environmental group said. A conservation easement is a legal agreement that limits land uses to protect conservation values of the land.
The deal protects nearly 1,000 acres of reserves, including about 300 acres of oldgrowth coast redwoods, mature mixedconifer forest and 28 miles of salmonbearing streams, according to Save the Redwoods League. It also
ends the prospect of 69 legal parcels being divided into small ranches and vineyards.
“One of the biggest
threats to big, privately owned forests like this, especially in a popular area like Mendocino, is the threat of subdivision,” Catherine Elliott, Save the Redwoods senior manager of land protection, said Sunday. “The family has kept this forest intact for 90 years, but they recognize that future generations may feel like they need to sell parts of it.”
Mailliard Ranch, about 80 miles north of San Francisco, is owned by the Mailliard family, which includes socialite and civic leader Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, the wife of former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, who died Feb. 6.
The family will continue their stewardship under the agreement and will be allowed to conduct commercial logging on secondgrowth redwoods at about half the rate permitted by California.
Protecting the ranch’s natural landscape, which is also the ancestral lands of Central Pomo tribes, “has been a decadeslong priority,” a statement from Save the Redwoods President Sam Hodder said. “This is an exquisite place. Now we can be sure it will remain that way.”
Jack Ward Mailliard Jr., who was president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and his wife Kate purchased the ranch in 1925 with the goal of restoring the natural landscape while financially sustaining the property.
Kate was “incredibly fierce in her commitment” to the ranch and redwood forest, particularly an area known as Cathedral Grove, her grandson Larry Mailliard said. “Grandmother’s philosophy was, ‘Why go sit in a 100yearold church when I could go talk to a 2,500yearold tree?’ ” he said.
Mailliard Ranch contains the largest coast redwood forest under private family ownership. Its varied ecosystem contains rare and endangered plants and wildlife. Golden eagles, blacktailed deer, northern spotted owls, Coho salmon, steelhead trout, and at least 159 native species of plants inhabit its sweeping meadows, streams, and lush mountains and canyons.
The agreement doubles the amount of Mendocino County land that Save the Redwoods has protected, connecting habitats and across 82,000 acres of contiguous protected lands, the group said.
Redwoods are endemic to California and hold a special place for state residents, noted Elliott. “We have gone through such a hard time with COVID and the wildfires, and I think that is the reason why so many people resonate with redwoods,” she said. “We’re glad they’re there, and they bring us a certain peace and enjoyment.”