Watershed Information Center & Conservancy of Napa County

Conserving the Lands of Napa County (9.1 MB)

The purpose of this study is to develop a strategic vision for conserving functional landscapes that maintain the composition, structure, and viability of important ecological systems in Napa County. It is intended as a conceptual blueprint for land conservation activities of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and its public and private partners. The study was built on the results of TNC's ecoregional planning and refined through a series of workshops with knowledgeable local experts. It identifies nine conservation areas that support the most important ecological systems of Napa County including valley and blue oak woodlands, native perennial grasslands, serpentine chaparral, cypress forests, riparian forests, and aquatic systems for native fish. Initial conservation plans were designed for each of the nine areas to establish a network of core reserves with buffers and linkages. They build on existing conservation lands, link disjointed open space parcels, and protect the watersheds of many important aquatic systems. With these conservation plans, site by site conservation activities will not be isolated but part of a larger, coherent design – one that if fully implemented, would nearly double the amount of land conserved in Napa County.