In 2004 Siskiyou Land Conservancy purchased a pristine 80-acre parcel of rare plant habitat at the confluence of Stony Creek and the Wild and Scenic North Fork Smith River, in Del Norte County. Each year SLC hosts hundreds of students and plant enthusiasts at this internationally unique botanical treasure, found alongside one of the wildest and cleanest rivers in the United States.
The North Fork of the Smith River runs through Siskiyou Land Conservancy’s 80-acre parcel on Stony Creek.
Botanists have discovered not one or two but three carnivorous plants living side by side in the Stony Creek watershed — including on SLC’s property — which is also the only roadless
tributary to the North Fork Smith River. Also found at Stony Creek are the western bog violet and a dozen other rare plants including the lovely McDonald’s rockcress, listed as Endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.
A huge and healthy Darlingtonia fen on Siskiyou Land Conservancy’s Stony Creek property. This pitcher plant is one of three carnivorous species on the property.
Stony Creek is a gateway to one of the world’s most unique botanical communities, existing on the rare and weird Josephine Ophiolite soils that stretch from northwestern California into southwestern Oregon.
Stony Creek enters the North Fork Smith River near the middle-right of this photo, where the red box illustrates the property lines of Siskiyou Land Conservancy’s 80-acre parcel. The town of Gasquet is at right.
In 2006 Siskiyou Land Conservancy’s Stony Creek acquisition earned a special commendation from the California Coalition of Land Trusts. Since that time Siskiyou Land Conservancy has been hand-thinning brush species that encroach upon the rare plants, a job once achieved by periodic wildfires.
Stony Creek is the only roadless tributary to the North Fork Smith River. The property owned by Siskiyou Land Conservancy contains the confluence of Stony Creek and the North Fork Smith River.
