Grantee: American River Conservancy (ARC)

Project: El Dorado Ranch

EEM Funded Project Cost: $3,350,500 (across three grant rounds)

The American River Conservancy was awarded three separate EEM grant awards between 2018 and 2024 for its multi-phase, 7,179-acre acquisition of El Dorado Ranch, which will become the first State Wildlife Area in El Dorado County. With EEM funds, ARC will purchase and protect over 5,000 acres of working ranch land within the Cosumnes River Watershed.

The ancestral home of the Miwok people, El Dorado Ranch provides a buffer for the Cosumnes River, the last undammed river on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The landscape is comprised of oak woodlands, grassland, mixed chaparral, and riparian habitat. It is home to several threatened and endangered species including western pond turtle, fall-run Chinook salmon, steelhead, and California red-legged frog.

The Related Transportation Facility (RTF) related to this multi-phase acquisition project is the Diamond Springs Parkway, which involves the construction of a four-lane divided roadway connecting Missouri Flat Road to State Route 49. Adverse environmental impacts affect wildlife and oak woodlands, wetlands, and riparian habitat. Conserving El Dorado Ranch indirectly mitigates cumulative impacts of the RTF and is located within the same watershed.

ARC

ARC

ARC