Project at a Glance

• Year conserved: 2000

• Acres: 800

• Project partners: The Nature Conservancy

• Owned by: The Nature Conservancy

• Things to do: Hiking, trail running, picnicking, wildlife viewing, nature photography

Conservation History & Values

River Fork Ranch is an ecological oasis that straddles the banks of the Carson River as it flows through spectacular Carson Valley. Over the past two decades, The Nature Conservancy has worked to improve ecological conditions on the ranch by enhancing riparian, meadow and wetland habitat and restoring important natural processes.

River Fork Ranch has supported cattle for over a century and continues to do so today. The Nature Conservancy is partnering with Ranch One, Carson Valley’s historic first ranch, to raise all-natural grass-fed beef using sustainable methods that meet both agricultural and conservation objectives. A rest-rotation grazing plan, and the exclusion of livestock from sensitive riparian and wetland areas, protects wildlife habitat. And keeping the ranch in production benefits the local economy.

The trail system at River Fork Ranch allows the public to access the Carson River, experience its wetland and wet meadow habitats and see the Conservancy’s restoration work first-hand. The Whit Hall Interpretive Center, the ranch’s state-of-the-art LEED© Platinum Certified education center, serves as a hub for the trail system, gives visitors access to the Carson River’s story and demonstrates a more sustainable way of life in Carson Valley and beyond.

Recreation & Restoration

By giving rivers room to swell beyond their banks in times of high flow, undeveloped floodplains reduce flood risk to communities downstream while allowing groundwater aquifers to recharge and natural water purification processes to function. River Fork Ranch permanently protects more than 800 acres of floodplain at the confluence of the East and West Forks of the Carson River.

Prior to the Conservancy’s ownership, unrestricted grazing, water diversions and channel dredging had degraded the ecological condition of the ranch. Active restoration work is ongoing to reverse these effects, enhance important riparian, meadow and wetland habitat and create conditions that allow for natural processes including overbank flow and channel migration. Contractors and volunteers have created nearly 40 acres of emergent marsh, wet meadow and riparian habitat along East Brockliss Slough and the West Fork of the Carson River at River Fork Ranch. When re-vegetation efforts fully take root, the native plants will help filter pollutants, reduce bank erosion and provide important habitat for the preserve’s incredible diversity of wildlife.

In addition to traditional restoration efforts, The Nature Conservancy  is bringing conservation and art together at River Fork Ranch in an innovative partnership with the Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art. The project, The Nature of Art, uses living watershed sculptures to restore native landscapes.