UC gets biggest donation of forestland ever: 4,584 acres

A land donation approved Wednesday will allow the University of California to nearly double the amount of forestland it has for its researchers to examine forest ecosystems and conserve a swath of the Northern California watershed.

The university will acquire 4,584 acres of mixed-conifer forests in two locations -- 3,100 acres near the Pit River in Shasta County and 1,484 acres in the Lake Spaulding area of Nevada County. The UC Center for Forestry had 5,131 acres of land across the state before the donation, which officials said was the largest single acquisition of forestland in the university's history.

The donation was approved Wednesday by the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council, the private group established to conserve 140,000 acres of watershed lands in California as part of Pacific Gas and Electric's 2004 bankruptcy settlement.

The university said the land would be used by researchers to investigate how forest ecosystems respond to climate change, increased fire risk and invasive species, as well as to allow students and the public to have access to the land.

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-- Rick Rojas