The Donald and Sylvia McLaughlin Natural Reserve is a

University of California Natural Reserve System The University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) is a system of protected areas throughout California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents acros ...

reserve in the Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area, in Napa and

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

counties of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The site is owned by the

Homestake Mining Company Homestake Mining Company was one of the largest gold mining businesses in the United States and the owner of the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota. Founded in 1877, it was acquired by Barrick Gold in December 2001. Homestake was the longest- ...

, and is the site of the now-closed

McLaughlin Mine The Sulphur Bank Mine is located near Clearlake Oaks and Clear Lake in Lake County, California. The mine became one of the most noted mercury producers in the world. During the 150 years since the Sulphur Bank was discovered, the area has dra ...

. The

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

protects

California interior chaparral and woodlands The California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers in an elliptical ring around the California Central Valley. It occurs on hills and mountains ranging from to . It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, ...

habitat, in the Northern Inner

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

History

A signed agreement between Homestake Mining Company and the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

established the reserve as a research and teaching facility in January 1993. The Ray Krauss Field Station was established on the reserve in 1998 and hosts university courses and research such as geology, plant evolution and genetics, among others. Although the reserve is not open to the general public, there are workshops, lectures, and guided field hikes available. In 1999, Homestake Mining Company was given the Corporate Habitat of the Year award by the nonprofit Wildlife Habitat Council for the company's reclamation efforts and projects. The Homestake McLaughlin Mine Habitat Program includes sensitive species protection, restoring disturbed areas and monitoring of wildlife and habitats. The reserve is named for and located at the site of the McLaughlin gold mine, Between 1985 and 2002 the mine produced about 3.4 million ounces of gold, with a current value of about US$4 billion (at $1200 per oz). "It's serving as a model for how used-up mines can have a second life," states Sylvia McLaughlin, the reserve's namesake, an environmental activist who also cofounded Save The Bay, to protect the San Francisco Bay from infill and pollution. Homestake Mining Company bought the land in 1981 from William Wilder, owner of the One Shot Mining Company which included the abandoned Manhattan Mercury Mine. The historic Manhattan mining pit became McLaughlin's. In 1992, Homestake purchased the nearby Gamble Ranch, and with a boundary adjustment, historic Knoxville as well. At the McLaughlin Natural Reserve, the town of Knoxville is a few stone walls, all that is left from a mining community of 300 people and fifty buildings during its heyday of the 1880s. In 2006 the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

gave the

more than $65,000 for construction of a greenhouse at the Mclaughlin reserve which is within the UC reserve system. Greenhouse facilities are used in studies such as plant ecological genetics.

References

External links

Official UC Davis McLaughlin Natural Reserve website.
{{Protected areas of California Gold mines in California Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Protected areas of Lake County, California Protected areas of Napa County, California University of California, Davis University of California Natural Reserve System 1993 establishments in California Protected areas established in 1993

History

See also

References

External links