30 Years of Protecting the Sierra Foothills
Thirty years ago, Sierra Foothill Conservancy began with a small group of volunteers and an ambitious idea: protect some of the special places that make the Sierra foothills what they are.
Three decades later, that effort has grown into a regional conservation organization responsible for protecting more than 67,000 acres of forests, foothills, rangelands, wildlife habitat and open space between Yosemite and Kings Canyon national parks.
Sierra Foothill Conservancy is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, marking three decades of work that began in 1996 with efforts to protect the McKenzie Table Mountain Preserve and Black Mountain Preserve.
What started as an all-volunteer organization has since expanded across Fresno, Madera, eastern Merced and Mariposa counties.
From a Few Volunteers to Thousands of Acres
SFC traces its beginning to a small group of volunteers who came together in 1996 around a shared vision of protecting foothill lands.
Its first efforts focused on what are now the Ruth McKenzie Table Mountain Preserve and Black Mountain Preserve.
By 2006, the organization had reached approximately 12,000 protected acres. That same period brought another milestone particularly relevant to the mountain communities: SFC expanded its work into Mariposa County and launched its education and outreach program.
Today, the Conservancy’s service area stretches across the western Sierra Nevada from the crest to the grasslands below, encompassing portions of Fresno, Madera, eastern Merced and Mariposa counties. SFC maintains offices in both Mariposa and Prather.
Its work has also grown beyond simply acquiring land.
The organization works with private landowners through conservation easements, manages its own preserves and supports projects involving habitat protection, working rangelands, watersheds, recreation, education and scientific research.
SFC says its conservation strategy also focuses on connecting protected landscapes from the lower-elevation grasslands toward the Sierra crest. Those connections can provide wildlife migration routes and climate refuges while contributing to watershed protection and wildfire-risk reduction for surrounding communities.
Conservation Close to Home
Some of that work can be found directly in SNO’s coverage area.
In Mariposa County, SFC properties include the Tivy Mountain Preserve, Stockton Creek Preserve and the Bill and Betty Stookey Preserve, among others.
The 227-acre Stookey Preserve, for example, protects a working landscape in southeastern Mariposa County with a history stretching back to the 1800s. Historic structures on the property include a home, barn and blacksmith shop dating to the 1860s.
Stockton Creek Preserve provides another example of conservation serving multiple community needs. The preserve protects land surrounding an important water source for the town of Mariposa while also providing public access and opportunities for recreation.
Across its broader service area, SFC currently owns 10 preserves totaling more than 7,600 acres and holds conservation easements protecting tens of thousands of additional acres. The organization reports more than 4,000 members, with thousands of visitors participating in hikes, classes, research and school field trips each year.
Protecting More Than Scenery
The landscapes protected through the Conservancy include blue oak woodlands, forests, rangelands, meadows, vernal pools and riparian habitat.
They also provide habitat for species ranging from golden eagles and great gray owls to mountain lions, California tiger salamanders and numerous native plants.
But the organization’s mission isn’t limited to wildlife.
SFC describes the grasslands, foothills and forests between Yosemite and Kings Canyon as places that support farms and ranches, provide clean water, sustain wildlife and give people opportunities to experience the natural landscape.
That connection between conservation and the people who live here has remained part of the organization’s work as it has grown.
Thirty years after a handful of volunteers began trying to save two foothill landscapes, Sierra Foothill Conservancy is still working toward the same basic idea — protecting the lands that help define this part of California so they remain part of the communities that surround them for generations to come.
More information about Sierra Foothill Conservancy and its 30th anniversary is available through Sierra Foothill Conservancy’s 30th anniversary page.
———-
Feature Photo: The Ruth McKenzie Table Mountain Preserve, one of the landscapes at the heart of Sierra Foothill Conservancy’s beginnings. SFC is celebrating 30 years of land conservation throughout the Sierra foothills.
Photo Credit: Visit Fresno County