Stuart Creek Hill Preserve

Property Type

Ecological Preserve

Acreage

14.0 acres (declared)

Region

Sonoma Valley & Mountain

Date Protected

2012

Habitat

Sensitive

Access

By Permission Only

In 2012, Sonoma Land Trust purchased a 14-acre undeveloped parcel located directly across from Glen Oaks Ranch along Highway 12. This property includes oak woodlands and high-quality grassland, along with a stretch of Stuart Creek. It is one parcel away from connecting to Stuart Creek Run and is functionally connected to Glen Oaks by the creek.

Small Size, Big Impact

Stuart Creek Hill is one of our smallest preserves. Under ordinary circumstances, the high purchase price of this 14-acre property located near Glen Ellen, with value as an estate home and/or vineyard, might have dissuaded the Land Trust from purchasing it. With the onset of our wildlife corridor work, however, this property stood out as an important piece of the puzzle because, owning it, we could control both sides of a bridge under busy Highway 12 (on the other side is our Glen Oaks Ranch Preserve).

Stewardship staff suspected that the bridge functioned as one of only a few important pathways for animals to get past the dangers of Highway 12 traffic. After two years of monitoring, we found that, indeed, this bridge underpass is the most used road crossing in the region and it is critical to keep it that way.

Protecting little properties can sometimes have big benefits.