State allocates $2 million to headwaters conservation

A project to conserve 11,000 acres of Trinity River headwaters received a $2 million allocation in this year’s state budget.

The funds were announced alongside another $9 million in total for the region from Congressional District 2 Rep. Jared Huffman’s office.

Pacific Forest Trust, a forest conservation nonprofit with offices in Northern California and Oregon, is listed as the entity receiving the funds. The nonprofit says it hopes to bundle the money with other funding sources to acquire as much as 11,000 acres of Trinity River headwaters in far northern Trinity County.

River headwaters, also known as the river’s source, are identified as critical areas for conservation and ecosystem efforts.

The $2 million in funds is promising, however it falls short of the total price tag for the 11,000 acres of Trinity headwaters targeted for conservation which is estimated by Pacific Forest Trust to be around $13 million.

Once funding is found Pacific Forest Trust plans to purchase the land — currently owned by Michigan-California Timber Company — and then hand it over to the Watershed Research and Training Center for conservation.

“Our project will acquire 11,000 acres at the very top of the watershed, protect it with a working forest conservation easement, and then convey it to WRTC to be managed to benefit both ecological and human communities,” Pacific Forest Trust’s website says.