Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ, 523 acres of forestland donated to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council. Photo by Max Forster (@maxforsterphotography), courtesy of Save the Redwoods League.
Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ is a 523-acre property located on California’s Lost Coast in northern Mendocino County.
It is in traditional Sinkyone territory.
It is on the western flank of the coast redwood range.
The property is a critical habitat corridor and a key inholding of redwood forest in a vast network of approximately 180,000 acres of protected lands.
Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ is bordered by 7,250-acre Sinkyone Wilderness State Park to the north, west, and south, and the 50,000-acre Usal Forest to the east.
The property is now owned by the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, a consortium of 10 federally recognized tribes, with Save the Redwoods League as a partner holding a conservation easement that permanently protects the land from commercial timber harvesting, development, and subdivision.
The Sinkyone Council includes Cahto Tribe of Laytonville Rancheria, Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, Pinoleville Pomo Nation, Potter Valley Tribe, Redwood Valley Little River Band of Pomo Indians, Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes, Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, and Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians.
The land holds old-growth coast redwoods, as well as large second-growth trees.
The forest contains old-growth habitat throughout, including approximately 200 acres of old trees scattered throughout the forest.
The second-growth trees exhibit late-seral characteristics, such as complex crowns and furrowed bark, indicating that they are developing into healthy old-growth trees.
About the flora and fauna:
Dominated by old-growth and large second-growth coast redwoods, the forest also consists of Douglas-firs, tanoaks, and Pacific madrones.
The understory features huckleberries, manzanitas, and ceanothuses.
Anderson Creek, a Class I fish-bearing stream, provides habitat for endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead trout.
The forest provides habitat for threatened northern spotted owls and endangered marbled murrelets.
The property also provides suitable habitat for other species such as bald eagles, northern goshawks, and foothill yellow-legged frogs.
The purchase price was $3.55 million.
The purchase was fully funded by Pacific Gas & Electric Company, according to a Habitat Acquisition and Management Agreement of the Habitat Mitigation Program through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The conservation easement prohibits commercial timber harvesting and development and requires that the land be managed according to the Habitat Management Plan approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Habitat Management Plan requires mapping the vegetation and wetlands, and surveying for the presence of northern spotted owls, marbled murrelets, and foothill yellow-legged frogs every few years.
