Placer Land Trust

Located in Rocklin, California, Clover Valley is one of the last remaining intact sections of oak woodlands in western Placer County. It is under the threat of development but Placer Land Trust and our partners are close to acquiring and permanently protecting 402 acres in the heart of Clover Valley, and we have until March to do it!

This valley is home to a wide variety of ecosystems, wildlife habitat, and historic Native American sites. In one area of the valley, beavers have created a 20-acre wetland along Clover Valley Creek that is now home to a rare and threatened bird species, the California black rail. A stone’s throw away, you can see where Native Americans lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years. Nature tells an amazing story in Clover Valley, and it's why Placer Land Trust is working so hard to protect it.

For many decades now, Clover Valley has been under intense pressure from development. Community members have rallied together to hold off the construction of subdivisions, roads, and highways that would destroy this last wild place.

And now, at last, we have an opportunity to save Clover Valley once and for all — but the deadline is rapidly approaching. If we don’t take action now, we risk losing this beautiful, biodiverse place forever.

Your donation will go directly to purchase land from the developer and permanently protect it for conservation, recreation, and education. If we don’t reach our goal, funds will be returned to donors.

If you would like to give to Placer Land Trust directly via check, stock, grant from Donor Advised funds, or make a Qualified Charitable Distribution, all of which are more “tax-smart” options than giving cash, please visit our website by clicking here , or reach out to us. All donations, whether given through GoFundMe or Placer Land Trust directly, will be used to protect the property in Clover Valley.

Donate now to help us protect this place forever, or read on for more of the background...

Background on the project

Our community’s efforts to protect Clover Valley have spanned decades, but recent momentum has gotten us closer than ever to preserving this precious place.

For the past 3+ years, Placer Land Trust and Jessup University have worked together on an effort to permanently protect Clover Valley. In 2022, Jessup signed a purchase and sale agreement with the landowner to purchase and protect 402 acres in the valley at a discounted price of $10M. Jessup chose to partner with Placer Land Trust to get our help with fundraising and to ultimately hold a conservation easement on the property to guarantee its permanent protection.

Placer Land Trust secured grant funds from Placer County, the City of Lincoln, and the private Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust to be used as the down payment for Jessup to purchase the Clover Valley property. Jessup borrowed the remainder from the seller.

This loan was due be paid to the seller by December 31, 2024, in order for Jessup to own the property free-and-clear and for Placer Land Trust to protect the property with a conservation easement. We received generous funding and support from the community and from local agencies, but we did not meet our full goal.

As a result, the property is on track to revert back to the original seller (the developer), meaning we could lose this beautiful, biodiverse place forever.

However, the process of returning the property to the original seller is expected to take a couple more months, so we can still be successful if we raise the rest of the funding by the end of March 2025!

In early January we got a good boost toward this goal, as Placer Land Trust received another $1M grant from a private foundation. Also in January, the Rocklin City Council agreed to make a $2M grant.

It's also important to note that local citizens, just like you, have donated over $100K since mid-December. Every donation, no matter the size, truly matters — it all adds up and gets us closer to reaching this critical goal!

Thank you!

Placer Land Trust and partners

P.S. To learn more about Placer Land Trust and other preserves that are already permanently protected, please visit our website here.

The California black rail is a rare and threatened bird species that calls Clover Valley home. Photo by Phil Robertson