Adjacent to Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve and its magnificent old-growth redwoods, the Weger Ranch property is the largest non-industrial, private forest in the Big River watershed. It contains more than 3,000 acres of coast redwood and Douglas-fir forest, with nearly 400 old-growth trees scattered throughout the property. Located within the traditional territory of the Northern Pomo People, Weger Ranch has long modeled a sustainable approach to forest management.
Starting in 2023, Save the Redwoods League partnered with the property’s owners to permanently protect the land with a conservation easement. Under this agreement, the owners retain property rights, but the land is protected forever from subdivision, development, and excessive logging, regardless of who owns it in the future or how many times the property changes hands.
This agreement also includes California State Parks’ acquisition of Rocky Ridge, an 80-acre parcel bordering both Montgomery Woods and Bureau of Land Management property.
The Weger Ranch project is part of a bigger vision—the Montgomery Woods Initiative—to expand protection around Montgomery Woods SNR and improve access to its cathedral-like old-growth grove. Related projects include the August 2022 acquisition of the 453-acre Atkins Place property, which will ultimately be added to the reserve; the 2024 acquisition of the 390-acre Dark Gulch property; as well as a partnership with California State Parks to revitalize the visitor experience in Montgomery Woods for everyone’s enrichment and delight.
What we secured
- 3,942 acres, including 3,181 acres of coast redwood and Douglas-fir forest and 681 acres of grassland adjacent to Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve
- Nearly 400 old-growth trees
- Permanent protection from subdivision, development, and excessive logging
- A reduction in the number of legal parcels on the property to three, eliminating the possibility that this land will be sold off piecemeal for development
- 62 acres of reserve areas where the forest will be allowed to return to old-growth conditions
- Seven creek headwaters that drain into the Big River watershed, a critical coastal watershed for imperiled salmon species
- Habitat and a protected wildlife corridor for northern spotted owls and other raptors, as well as foothill yellow-legged frogs, bears, and mountain lions
A family tradition of sustainability
Lisa Weger, one of the owners of Weger Ranch, looks over the sustainably forested property now protected for generations to come. Photo by Max Forster.
Weger Ranch was acquired by Donald Weger over the course of 25 years, beginning in 1941. For decades, the owners of Weger Ranch have set a high bar for forest management in the region. The family’s selective “light-touch” harvesting approach results in a multi-aged, diverse forest structure that benefits streams and wildlife.
The ranch is under two active Non-Industrial Timber Management Plans on 2,394 acres, in which timber is harvested at a rate that is lower than the growth rate of the forest and individually selected, resulting in a diverse forest structure. These practices will endure under the conservation easement, along with additional restrictions in riparian zones and protection of all residual old-growth trees.
“If done properly, we can sustainably harvest timber while preserving a biodiverse forest, high-quality wildlife habitat, and amazing trees that sequester carbon and clean the water,” explains Lisa Weger, one of the property’s owners.
A key provision in the conservation easement reduces the total number of legal parcels on the property from 37 to three, eliminating the possibility that this land will be sold off piecemeal for development. Sixty-two acres of reserve areas will also be established where the forest will be allowed to return to old-growth conditions.
Protecting irreplaceable habitat
Weger Ranch provides key habitat for imperiled salmon species, northern spotted owls, and wide-ranging mammals such as mountain lions and black bears. Photo by Max Forster.
Weger Ranch contains seven stream headwaters, all of which drain into the Big River watershed, a critical habitat for imperiled salmon species. The ranch has nearly three miles of steelhead and coho salmon streams, including a mile of prime chinook salmon spawning grounds.
The land also provides habitat for northern spotted owls, goshawks, white-tailed kites, peregrine falcons, and golden eagles (winter habitat), as well as red tree voles, foothill yellow-legged frogs, bears, and mountain lions.
The conservation easement safeguards not only the thrilling abundance of wildlife in this land, but also the water and carbon-storage functions of the soil and forest.
The Rocky Ridge bonus
Peregrine falcons nest in the outcroppings that give Rocky Ridge its name. Photo by Adrianna Andreucci.
The conservation easement includes what feels like a majestic bonus—for wildlife and the nature-loving public alike. As part of the agreement, California State Parks acquired Rocky Ridge, an 80-acre parcel that borders both Montgomery Woods State Nature Reserve and Bureau of Land Management property.
Adding Rocky Ridge to 2,743-acre Montgomery Woods SNR creates a seamless protected habitat for wildlife of all kinds, helps buffer the reserve’s ancient redwood giants, and provides the opportunity to expand the reserve’s trail network to the ridgeline, with sweeping, bird’s-eye views of the old-growth canopy and surrounding landscape. This exciting expansion, which occurred in 2024, marked the first time in more than a decade that California State Parks acquired land conserved by Save the Redwoods League.
“As we worked with the Weger Family on the conservation easement, it soon became apparent that this important piece of land belonged with the reserve,” says Adrianna Andreucci, Save the Redwoods League land protection manager. “This rocky precipice, with its peregrine falcons soaring among ancient old-growth redwoods, matches the majesty of the reserve. It deserves to be shared with the public.”
Generosity funds giant steps in conservation
The Weger Ranch conservation easement was made possible by the generous support of Save the Redwoods League donors and through a $9.5 million grant from the Cal Fire State Forest Legacy Program; a $3.42 million grant from California State Coastal Conservancy; a $1.121 million land value donation from the Weger family; and $250,000 from Walmart’s Acres for America program through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Weger Ranch and Rocky Ridge are now part of a protected greenbelt of more than 11,500 acres, including Bureau of Land Management lands, in the upper reaches of the Big River watershed. Conservation at this scale contributes to California’s 30×30 goals for landscape protection, carbon storage, and biodiversity.
Thanks to donations from redwood-lovers like you, Save the Redwoods League can now safeguard Weger Ranch’s landscape for native fauna and flora, including this Douglas iris. Photo by Max Forster.
