Mendocino County land believed to house several federally endangered animals and plants will forever be protected from development thanks to a donation of conservation easements to the Mendocino Land Trust, the organization said.
In July, PG&E donated the conservation easement on 30 acres of grasslands and wetlands, known as Windy Hollow, to the trust. Windy Hollow sits in an unincorporated area near Point Arena.
According to the California Council of Land Trusts, a conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement in which the property owner restricts what types of activities can take place on their land. In this case, Windy Hollow will be forever protected from any form of development.
Windy Hollow is part of the Garcia River watershed, which is home to salmon.
The area is home to the federally endangered Point Arena mountain beaver, the land trust said.
A small, stocky beaver with black fur, the Point Arena mountain beaver was listed as endangered in 1991 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Windy Hollow is also believed to be home to Behren’s silverspot butterfly, another federally endangered species. The gold and brown butterfly is found from the town of Mendocino to Salt Point State Park in Sonoma County, the federal wildlife service said.
While the land is confirmed to house several protected plant species, the land trust also believes federally endangered plants are also found on the property.
According to the wildlife service, habitat loss and development is the biggest threat to these endangered species.
In August, the land trust received a second conservation easement donation of a 2.3-acre property in an unincorporated area near Fort Bragg. The property, known as the Popow Redwoods, was a gift from the estate of ceramic artist Sonya Popow, who died in March.
The property, which Popow owned for over 50 years, features large second-growth redwoods.
More information about the donations can be found at mendoclandtrust.org. Â
This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.