The Northcoast Regional Land Trust’s Regional Planning program identifies and prioritizes threats and opportunities for conservation across our three-county Focus Area. It addresses the preservation, conservation, restoration and management of ecological systems, landscape linkages and wildlife corridors, rare or threatened species, and unique natural communities. It emphasizes actions that are feasible from an implementation standpoint by integrating social and economic factors with biological considerations.

Conservation Action Plan    |    Humboldt County Agricultural Survey    |    North Coast Farmland Conservation Study

As a trust for regional conservation, the Land Trust is dedicated to preserving the North Coast region's natural resources, beauty and quality of life. Dimensions of our Regional Planning efforts include:

1. Identifying and prioritizing the Land Trust's conservation targets (i.e. biological resources, natural landscape types, unique ecological communities, and other elements);
2. Developing detailed strategies for attaining conservation goals, conducting additional research, outreach, interviews, and focus group discussions as necessary;
3.  Identifying key projects and conservation partners for implementing strategies and attaining goals;
4. Compiling and writing a Conservation Action Plan for the California North Coast;
5. Compiling and writing a Strategic Conservation Action Plan to guide NRLT’s own activities for the next five to ten years (currently being updated).

Conservation Action Plan for the California North Coast
The primary goal of the Conservation Action Plan (CAP) is to develop and implement strategic conservation planning and land-protection projects that are vital to sustaining the diversity and productive capacity of North Coast landscapes. Working with local and regional partners, we created CAPs for three distinct ecological categories for the North Coast, which include:

• Development of a conceptual reserve design for oak woodlands in the region, including a parcel-level analysis of conservation opportunities. This includes a background report on the status of oak woodlands in Humboldt County and progress towards building an associated oak woodlands conservation and management initiative. View priority oak woodlands map generated from the CAP.
• Identification of rare plant rich natural communities, their regional distribution, and recommendations leading to their protection and maintenance at designated sites. View the rare plants map generated from the CAP.
• A preliminary examination of theoretical Pacific fisher and mountain lion movement corridors in relation to other proposed target areas and regional ownership patterns.

In order to implement these strategies, we have developed strong partnerships with relevant agencies and conservation groups, and continue to participate in county-level planning processes to promote natural systems and sustainable agriculture.

North Coast Farmland Conservation Study
This study, conducted by the Northcoast Regional Land Trust, assesses the conservation opportunities and land use conversion threats on Humboldt County coastal agricultural lands. Focusing on bottomlands along the Eel River, Mad River, greater Humboldt Bay and Redwood Creek (Orick), data from Humboldt County’s Geographic Information System mapping database were used to develop maps that present current agricultural resources and land use planning features. The report highlights the critical mass of functioning agricultural lands currently sustaining our local agricultural industry and economy. Non-agricultural land conversion threats emphasize land use planning factors and zoning ordinances. In summary, over 64,000 acres of agricultural lands are highlighted as ‘strategic conservation areas’. Approximately 34,000 of these acres are also located within non-agricultural land conversion threat areas. Please note: The Farmland Conservation Study maps are large files.

NRLTFarmPlan_Final6-05.pdf
(Northcoast Farmland Conservation Study: Humboldt County Coastal Agricultural Lands June 2005)

NCFCS_1_ConsOpps_11x17.pdf
NCFCS_2_Soils_11x17.pdf
NCFCS_3_StratCons_11x17.pdf
NCFCS_3a_StratCons_11x17.pdf
NCFCS_3b_StratCons_11x17.pdf
NCFCS_3c_StratCons_11x17.pdf
NCFCS_3d_StratCons_11x17.pdf
NCFCS_3e_StratCons_11x17.pdf
NCFCS_3f_StratCons_11x17.pdf

Humboldt County Agricultural Survey
For the first time in Humboldt County, agricultural producers, landowners and the general public provide compelling and quantitative results on the importance of local agriculture to the economy, environment and quality of life in Humboldt County. You may download the full report, or to make it easier to download, you may also download it in sections. The reports are in Adobe PDF format, you will need to have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to read or print them.

Complete Report (1074 kb)
Part One - Executive Summary (368 kb)
Part Two - Survey Results and Discussion (386 kb)
Part Three - Complete List of Survey Questions, Responses (489 kb)