Panorama Park Ben Hur Joins the Sierra Foothills Conservancy

SIERRA FOOTHILL CONSERVANCY MISSION

The grasslands, foothills, and forests between Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks provide land for farms and ranches, a home for native plants and wildlife, and a source of clean water .

The Sierra Foothill Conservancy honors our natural and cultural heritage by protecting these resources and ensuring that present and future generations will continue to experience and enjoy the land in this region.

SFC ACQUIRES NEW CONSERVATION EASEMENT ON NEARLY 4,600 ACRES, INCLUDING HISTORIC QUICK RANCH

MARIPOSA, CALIFORNIA - Sierra Foothill Conservancy (SFC) is excited to announce our newest and second largest conservation easement acquisition: 4,598 acres of working rangeland in Mariposa County, including the historic Quick “Ben Hur” Ranch, Silver Bar Ranch, and Striped Creek Ranch. With this important acquisition that closed in the final days of 2020, SFC has conserved a total of 46,408 acres, with more than 11,000 acres of land conserved just in the last year!

This conservation easement was made possible through the generous donation of partnering landowners Drs. Jim Larrick and Jun Chen, who purchased the properties with the intention to reassemble the historic ranches after decades of land division. “Combination of these properties would be the basis for preservation of both historic Mariposa County and the natural beauty of this part of the world,” Dr. Larrick wrote in a letter to SFC. Through a voluntary conservation easement over the entire property, both the natural and anthropogenic values that make this land special will continue to be protected in perpetuity by SFC and the landowners.

SAVING NATURAL LANDS NOW AND FOREVER

We are also deeply grateful to the CA Department of Conservation (DOC) and Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC), who awarded capacity funding through competitive grants to SFC. These capacity grants supported SFC staff time that was critical to developing this transaction and completing the conservation easement. These two vital grants were funded through CA Proposition 68 and leveraged an investment of less than $20,000 from the state, matched by landowner donation to conserve this sprawling 4,598-acre conservation easement worth over $2,000,000.

Located between the towns of Mariposa and Raymond, this 4,598-acre working landscape exemplifies the Sierra Nevada foothills, featuring annual grasslands, chaparral, mixed oak woodland, blue oak savannah, granitic rock outcrops, and extensive riparian resources that include perennial and seasonal streams, swales, and wetlands. With several habitats, a mosaic of 13 different soil types, and elevations ranging from 1,500 ft. to 2,250 ft. above sea level, this landscape provides important ecosystem processes and services. The diverse, high-quality habitats on the property are suitable for numerous species of plants and animals, including many special-status and native species such as the California tiger salamander, western pond turtle, American badger, valley elderberry longhorn beetle, golden eagle, burrowing owl, and Swainson’s hawk. SFC staff have also observed red-tailed hawks, bald eagle, osprey, great blue herons, American kestrel, mourning doves, western kingbirds, Lewis’s woodpecker, western bluebirds, California quail, California ground squirrel, black-tailed deer, and coyotes onsite.

Historical and cultural artifacts abound on the property and serve as mementos of the past, telling stories of the land’s rich heritage. Bedrock mortars etched in exposed granite slabs throughout the property were historically used by the Southern Sierra Miwok people; ample acorns, creeks and springs, abundant wildlife, and native plants such as redbud trees were valuable resources for the local people. Eventually, at least 160 years ago, land usage shifted primarily to cattle grazing, which continues today. The historic Quick “Ben Hur” Ranch, part of Drs. Larrick and Chen’s now-conserved lands, was owned and passed down through several generations of the Quick family from 1859 to 2019. Family patriarch Morgan Quick is featured in an exhibit at the Mariposa Museum and History Center. This property has several architectural structures reflecting the Ranch’s history, cultural importance, and its contribution to the region’s agricultural economy. The Quick Ranch contains the Mother Lode region’s longest rock fence; the four-mile-long fence was built by Chinese workers in 1862 and encloses 640 acres of rolling hills. The Ben Hur Post Office operated on the property for nearly 40 years in the early 1900s and is still standing, as well as a wooden corral and barn that are over 150 years old.

For Dr. Larrick, who grew up on a 400-acre farm in Colorado, this conservation achievement was personal. Rural areas and open spaces are facing increasing pressures of land-use conversion, fragmentation, and development. “[O]ur family farm had been turned into a Denver suburban housing development,” he wrote. “I decided then and there that I would personally try to find a way to make a nature preserve of this land; but how?” Drs. Larrick and Chen contacted SFC early in 2019 to discuss conservation options for their property. Now, through their conservation easement, this property’s historic heritage, cultural resources, and agricultural, scenic, open space, and ecosystem values will be forever protected. “This donation feels like I’ve traveled full circle from my agricultural roots many years ago,” concluded Dr. Larrick.

The addition of this property to SFC’s portfolio of conserved lands directly enhances the growing conservation corridor in this key area of our Sierra Nevada foothill region. We look forward to an in-person celebration of this momentous conservation easement closing with Drs. Larrick and Chen in the future!

ABOUT

SFC’s Vision: From the snow-capped Sierra to the Central Valley floor, expansive landscapes, important habitats, and clean water resources are conserved and managed to ensure continuing public benefits. SFC supports a thriving land-based economy while promoting a conservation ethic that spans generations. Sierra Foothill Conservancy serves eastern Fresno, Madera, Merced and Mariposa Counties in California's central Sierra Nevada. To learn more about SFC’s work and how to get involved, visit https://sierrafoothill.org/.