Hoo (who) lives out at at Deer Creek Preserve?

Welcome to our Fund a Need campaign! Where we have a specific and tangible ask from you, our generous donors! Donate what you can or donate the exact amount for an item, up to you!

We are looking to purchase monitoring equipment for our (and your) hidden gem, Deer Creek Preserve. This equipment will include wildlife cameras to document mammals large and small, as well as audio recording devices to catch the songs of birds, bats, and frogs!

We want to get a better understanding of what creatures use Deer Creek Preserve, either as their home, or as a travel corridor! This will help us track the changes in diversity both seasonally, and throughout the years. This will also help us develop species-specific management considerations, allowing NCRLT to track wildlife responses to habitat restoration, fuels reduction, and other management actions over time.

As a bonus, we'll get to share our best wildlife photographs with you! Will we see a bear? A newly born fawn? Who knows! We're so excited to find out!

Here's a breakdown of our funding goal...

12 wildlife cameras from a trusted brand that are durable and high quality.

• Browning Recon Force Elite HP5 Ultra (x12), plus security box & cable, SD cards, batteries - total $3,600
  • Individual camera - $169.99
  • Bundle of camera, SD card, and batteries - $219.6

12 audio recording devices from a trusted brand that are durable and high quality.

• Wildlife Acoustics Song Meter Micro 2.0 (x12), plus SD cards, batteries, SD card reader, 2TB external hard drive - total $3,500
  • Individual audio recording device - $149.00
  • 128 GB MicroSD SDXC Flash Card for Song Meter Micro - $50.00
  • SD card reader - $28.00
  • 2TB external hard drive - $149.00

A tablet for collecting data in the field.

• Rugged Tablet and accessories - $550

Additional support gear.

• Attachment equipment (t-posts, screws, zip ties) - $150

We hope to make this wildlife biodiversity monitoring program a reality and we appreciate any amount you can give in support!

Here's some additional background and history on the land that the Preserve sits upon...

The Deer Creek Preserve, a public-access property held in fee title by the NCRLT, is 600 acres of mature forest comprised of mixed , riparian lands in Tehama County, accessible to the public from Highway 32. Pre-history, indigenous stewardship of this property by the Yahi and Yana peoples was interrupted during pioneer exploration, and ultimately exterminated during settlement, with the last remaining member, known as “Ishi,” dying in 1916. Lacking authentic ancestral ties by any single tribal entity, recent and current management is appropriated by consulting professionals with tribal affiliation other than Yahi or Yana. The Deer Creek Trail, crossing USFS property, provides access to the preserve, which contains a CDFW-maintained fish ladder at Lower Deer Creek Falls. In addition to promoting independent public access, NCRLT hosts several free guided hikes throughout the year. The Preserve is a diverse array of mixed-conifer stands dominated by ponderosa pine, canyon live oak woodland, chaparral, and riparian areas along Deer and Panther Creeks, with annual grass and forb communities on exposed mudflow extrusions of the Tuscan formation. Butterflies, birds, bears, and snakes have been spotted on the property, using the Preserve as a place of food, water, and shelter.