Protecting Land on the West's Outstanding Rivers

With backing from GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is permanently protecting land along outstanding rivers across the western United States. Your gift supports the core costs of purchasing and conserving land for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people. Your contribution is dedicated to such efforts as preserving salmon and wildlife habitat, and creating new hiking trails, boating access and recreational opportunities.

Thanks to your support, Western Rivers Conservancy has:

• Protected Dillon Beach Ranch on California’s Bodega Bay with Bay Area Tribe

• Permanently Conserved and Opened to the Public Washington’s Yakima Canyon Ranch 

California’s Estero de San Antonio:

In a breathtaking coastal setting north of San Francisco, in August Western Rivers Conservancy conserved Dillon Beach Ranch and its outstanding estuary habitat by conveying the property to the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. The 466- acre ranch includes 1.5 miles of the estuary’s southern shore and another 1.5 miles of rocky Pacific shoreline.

WRC purchased the ranch in 2023. Today, the Graton Rancheria— which includes Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo communities—have those lands back, and the ranch will remain intact for fish and wildlife and to preserve its unique cultural heritage.

Located in West Marin County some 40 miles north of the Golden Gate, Dillon Beach Ranch presides over a nearly pristine estuary—the Estero de San Antonio—with the expanse of the Pacific Ocean filling the western horizon. The estero (Spanish for estuary) and its ever-evolving tidal ecosystem is formed where a small stream called Stemple Creek meets the Pacific at the southern end of Bodega Bay. Top to bottom, the ranch, once a sizeable cattle operation, includes grassy benches, rock outcrops and rolling hills that slope gently down to the estuary’s southern bank and west to the rough, rocky beach that forms the property’s oceanfront edge.

Designated a State Marine Recreational Management Area, the estuary and its fragile ecosystem remain largely intact, incredibly diverse and wholly unique. The federally endangered and seldom-seen Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly is known to flit about the area—and likely only there. Though also endangered and rarely exceeding two inches in length, the intrepid northern tidewater goby is supremely adapted to the habitat conditions and undulating seasonal sandbars of the estuary and persists here as a testament to the estuary’s health. Threatened California redlegged frogs are found in the estuary’s wetland areas, while mule deer graze the hillsides and shorebirds navigate the fog and breezes above.

The Graton Rancheria community plans to manage Dillon Beach Ranch for the benefit of its fish, wildlife and outstanding cultural values. Management will focus on traditional practices, reducing invasive species and fostering the growth of native plants. It is the first property that has been returned to the Graton Rancheria to own and manage for the sake of conservation—an outcome that grew out of a remarkable partnership which WRC and the Graton Rancheria alike are incredibly proud of

Washington’s Yakima River:

In May, Western Rivers Conservancy, the Bureau of Land Management, the Yakama Nation and others gathered on the banks of the Yakima River to celebrate a landmark win for conservation and recreation: the protection of Yakima Canyon Ranch, in the heart of the scenic Yakima River Canyon. Following more than five years of work, WRC’s conveyance of the property to the BLM ensured permanent conservation of one of the most coveted properties within the river’s scenic 27-mile canyon stretch.

With our eye on conserving Yakima Canyon Ranch for years, WRC purchased the property in 2021. Composed of 647 acres, the ranch spans 3.5 miles of both sides of the river, near the canyon’s upper end. It includes the destination campsite and recreation gateway at Lower Umtanum, and the indispensable boating put-in and campground at Bighorn, a mainstay for those floating and fishing the canyon reach.

After purchasing the property, WRC and the BLM secured funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund to convey the ranch to the BLM in March of this year. The ranch lies within the BLM’s 9,000- acre Yakima River Canyon Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and was one of a handful of privately-owned properties scattered among the ACEC’s protected public lands. Placing the property into BLM ownership ensures a more cohesive management of the area for the sake of both conservation and recreational access—a true accomplishment in such a popular area.

Fly anglers from far and wide visit the Yakima River Canyon to test their skills against the river’s famed redband trout, and birders can spot prairie falcons, golden eagles and 20 other raptor species in the cliffs above. California bighorn sheep navigate the sunbaked canyon walls, while mule deer browse the surrounding shrub-steppe slopes and cottonwood stands along the river. And hikers, hunters and wildlife watchers can access the adjacent 106,000-acre Wenas Wildlife Area next door.

Conservation of Yakima Canyon Ranch will also play a pivotal role in the broader vision for the Yakima River’s future as a whole. Named for the Indigenous Yakama people, the Yakima River was one of the great salmon corridors connecting the eastern slope of the Cascade Range to the Columbia River. Most of those runs were lost, but there is hope they’ll return. As the Yakama Nation leads restoration efforts for Chinook, coho and sockeye, protecting intact migratory and riparian habitat like that of Yakima Canyon Ranch will be essential.

Yakima Canyon Ranch is one of two recent WRC projects on the Yakima, the other being Four Seasons Ranch, upstream. There, WRC conveyed a small but critical property to Kittitas County, allowing the county to continue restoration of nearly four miles of floodplain habitat. Combined, these efforts on the Yakima will help ensure this river remains a place of salmon, steelhead, wildlife and recreation forever.

Conclusion

The Dillon Beach and Yakima Canyon ranch projects are just some of our recent projects. WRC currently has over 25 active projects in seven states. With the support of GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is expanding our efforts to protect riverlands for fish, wildlife and people.

We love to hear from our supporters. Please contact Anne Tattam at 503-241-0151, ext. 219 (or atattam@westernrivers.org) for further information. Thank you.

• Western Rivers Conservancy: Project Photos (PDF)