Lake County nonprofit protects, preserves as much land as they can (2024)

Oak-studded grasslands, bright California poppies and wetlands sparkle with life during this time of year at Rodman Preserve in Upper Lake.

Every Saturday, the space is open for self-guided walks where visitors will no doubt spot avian species like great blue herons, acorn woodpeckers, nuthatches and elegant egrets, who call this place home.

Rodman Preserve consists of 282-acres of land.

There’s the 132-acre parcel owned by the Lake County Land Trust that includes oak grasslands, wetland habitat and a small ranch house that has been renovated to serve as a nature center. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife owns 102 acres. The County of Lake owns 41 acres near the Rodman Slough Bridge which was part of the original project to purchase the large ranch. The remaining 162 acres that was part of the original acquisition was purchased by private owners to continue its original agricultural use.

The preserve is one of several properties Lake County Land Trust maintains. Other properties the nonprofit maintains include Melo Wetland Preserve, Rabbit Hill Preserve, Boggs Lake Preserve, Konocti Chaparral Preserve, Wright-Keithly Preserve, Monitor Island and three conservation easem*nts.

On May 4, guided by Lake County Land Trust Board Member Roberta Lyons, volunteers met at 10 a.m. at the Rodman Nature Center to begin tending to Rodman Preserve. They made their way to the trail and watched a tending demonstration on how to identify and remove nonnative grasses. Then, for about two hours, they got to work.

There are many native grass species and many native wildflower species that have been impacted by being heavily grazed and they are in competition with nonnative species.

“From the perspective of wildland ecosystems, all (nonnative grasses) are problematic because of their invasive nature which can drastically reduce populations of native wildflowers and grasses and alter how the land reacts to disturbances like fire and heavy rain,” Koehler said. “Some of them have been intentionally brought into California to alter the vegetation so that it can support more domestic livestock.“

Native and nonnative grasses can be hard to identify especially in the rainy season, but as they grow, it gets easier.

Every year the land trusts holds three to four volunteer events for those who want to help tend to the land, learn about their work, conservation practices and the environment.

"It's an honor to work with an organization that is building bridges within our community to accomplish long-term solutions to creating a healthy living environment," said Lake County Land Trust President Val Nixon.

History of the land trust

In the 1970s, Lyons wrote for her family's newspaper, the Clear Lake Observer-American, where she penned stories about Clear Lake and local environmental issues.

"My passion for the environment started at a young age. I grew up on the shores of Clear Lakeand have always loved it here,“ she said. ”It wasn’t until my early 30s though that I became more of an activist."

She wrote about the shrinking wetlands surrounding Clear Lake which led local archaeologist Dr. John Parker to nominate the area at the head of Cache Creek on the southeast corner of Clear Lake, to the National Register of Historic Places. He began a campaign to have the site acquired as a new state park. He succeeded on Aug. 24, 1978. The 1,065 acre site is now known as Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.

Lyons has since become the president of the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association, which overseas Anderson Marsh State Historic Park and its wetlands.

Lyons continued to foster her love for Lake County’s environment and went on to serve as president of Redbud Audubon Society, a conservation group in Clearlake, for five years.

In 1991, she and fellow Lake County local, Susanne Scholz, attended a National Audubon Society Annual Meeting and made note of the various land conservation agencies in attendance. They were inspired and began drumming up a plan to start their own conservation group.

The women, along with Mary Benson, began putting together the bylaws and formed the Lake County Land Trust Board with Lyons as president, Benson as secretary and Glenn Dishman as treasurer. Other board members included Scholz, John Graham, Kim Clymire, Sibyl Day and Ginger Kite.

"The best thing, besides being able to see our accomplishments, is associating with a wonderful group of people," Lyons said of the early board members.

The Lake County Land Trust began their conservation work in 1999 with the Rabbit Hill Preserve, a 9.5-acre space located in Middletown.

The preserve was given to the trust by the Madrone Audubon Society. The original owners, had willed the property to the society, but the organization didn’t want it.