Stewardship and Restoration

The land you save today is the land you will protect tomorrow. And the day after that.  And the day after that.  And the next day…

It is easy to appreciate our community's stunning landscapes — ancient oak woodlands, working ranches and granite-walled river canyons — but their importance and value go well beyond the visual beauty we readily enjoy.  Each of these landscapes plays a critical role in maintaining the health of our water, our air, our economy, and our communities.

What is stewardship? 

At a basic level, stewardship of land and natural resources means caring for land in ways that ensure the sustainability of conservation values. The word “stewardship” has several definitions for land conservation: 

• monitoring, defending and enforcement of conservation easements

• actively managing lands to encourage and sustain ecological health and diversity

• engaging our community in activities that sustain the natural resources we value, such as wildlife habitat, or on which we depend such as water

Stewardship means monitoring and protecting fragile or endangered species, combating threats posed by invasive weeds and other pathogens, and managing with care our region’s magnificent landscapes to ensure they are protected in perpetuity.

Stewardship is an ethic that embodies planning and management of the land with organizations, communities and others in the prevention of loss of habitat and facilitates its recovery in the interest of long-term sustainability. Bear Yuba Land Trust accomplishes this through a strong working relationship between landowners, conservation partners, and ourselves.

Restoration Services and Resources Management

Restoration services and resources management include a range of activities that are specifically designed to restore or enhance conservation values.  Responsibility for the implementation of activities is shared between landowners and BYLT.

Because of BYLT’s particular understanding of land that we steward, we uniquely can help landowners obtain resources, regulatory approval and services whereby landowners receive direct assistance or referral to other capable partners in planning, developing and carrying out stewardship and restoration activities.  

Examples include:

• Planning and land management activities jointly by BYLT and the landowner in order to meet common stewardship or land restoration goals 

• Assist with applications for funding or establishing connections to federal and state agencies such as NRCS 

• Management of land that has absentee or part-time landowners (non-resident)

• Provide connections to others for management and leasing of land e.g. for grazing leases

• Vegetation management for fire safety or invasive species

• Irrigation management

• Reseeding or reforesting lands with native species

• Erosion control or restoration

• Enhancement of habitat for repopulation of wildlife

Supporting and promoting ecological health is a community-based effort. With your help, Nevada County can restore natural systems that have been damaged by mining activity, excessive water extraction, remove the most prolific and damaging invasive plant species, secure wildlife and wildlife corridors, safeguard our communities against fire, and the potential damages wrought by dramatic climate change, and invest in the health of future generations with active land stewardship.