Placer Land Trust

Oest Ranch - Lake Clementine Preserve

Quick Facts:
  • 350 acres along the American River canyon rim near Lake Clementine 
  • Protected in 2009 in partnership with the Oest family, with primary funding provided by the Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust 

Protecting Working Family Lands

PLT worked with Daryl Oest and his family to put an agricultural conservation easement on the Oest Ranch - Lake Clementine Preserve.  The property is located on the North Fork American River canyon rim above Lake Clementine. The preserve contains beautiful oak woodlands, grasslands used for seasonal livestock grazing, and a riparian corridor along a mile of Clipper Creek. 

Family Heritage

Placer Land Trust is proud to partner with the Oests to help allow the Oest Ranch to be sustainable for livestock grazing, beekeeping, and other agricultural productivity.  The Oests are a pioneering Placer family with over 150 years farming and ranching in the Auburn area. 

Local Agriculture

The Lake Clementine Preserve is an important part of Oest Ranch's beef production, and also provides a home for bees producing PlacerGROWN honey. In the easement, the Oests reserved three acres for a homesite to help manage the ranch and deter trespassing, but protected the remaining 350 acres forever. PLT's easement prohibits development and other harmful uses and allows for sustainable agricultural production, while the property remains privately held and managed by the Oest family.

Like most working landscapes, the Oest Ranch - Lake Clementine Preserve remains private property and trespassing is prohibited.  PLT plans to lead annual ranch tours on the property.

 

Multiple Benefits

The protection of this property provides multiple public benefits.  Livestock grazing keeps invasive species down, makes room for native plants, and reduces fuel loads that can lead to wildfire.  Additionally, this property contains springs, drainages, and Clipper Creek, which all drain to the North Fork American River, a vital waterway for domestic water supplies and outdoor recreation.  Large areas of intact wilderness provide critical habitat for larger animal species; the oak woodlands and canyon lands along the American River in the Lake Clementine area contain critical habitat for a wide diversity of plant and animal life.