An Early Winter Solstice Present To The World: 5,630 Area California Sonoma Land Trust On Grounds Of Earlier Kashaya Pomo Settlements

"By early spring [of 2009], about 5,630 acres near the mouth of the Russian River could be open to the public, revealing redwood forests, wildflower meadows and flowing streams, home to rare birds and frogs.

That coastal prairie, overlooking some of the most photographed views of the Pacific Ocean on the California coast, could have been sold as 38 homesites. But the Sonoma Land Trust and other nonprofit groups, plus government agencies, collaborated to forge the single largest conservation land acquisition in Sonoma County, a $36 million agreement to buy the property, newly named the Jenner Headlands.

"It's a large, beautiful, intact landscape, one of the most scenic spots on the coast," said Ralph Benson, executive director of the Sonoma Land Trust, which will manage the property for up to a decade.

Once home to Kashaya Pomo settlements, then part of a Spanish land grant, the land is rich in natural and cultural resources, Benson said." ...

Jane Kay "5,630-acre Jenner Highlands saved for public" San Francisco Chronicle December 4, 2008

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Photo credit (Pomo basket): (c) Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley. With thanks.