As part of our Marsh Creek watershed project, we need to raise $1.455 million to acquire and protect the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch by December of this year.
Please help us save this high-priority parcel within the Marsh Creek watershed and make a gift today!
A Ribbon of Life Connecting Mount Diablo to the Delta
Marsh Creek. Photo by Cooper Ogden
Marsh Creek runs through Mount Diablo’s landscape, flowing from Mount Diablo’s eastern side, winding through eastern Contra Costa County before depositing water into the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta.
The life-sustaining water of Marsh Creek connects Mount Diablo to the Delta and then by extension, the Bay, tracing a vital wildlife corridor through a rapidly developing area.
Marsh Creek is not only the county’s most undisturbed creek, it’s the county’s second longest creek at 33 miles, and has the third largest flow of any creek in Contra Costa County.
Most years, the water in Marsh Creek sinks below the gravel beds in summer, but pools are apparent both upstream and downstream.
Protecting and Restoring the Marsh Creek Watershed
Save Mount Diablo’s Marsh Creek 5 property, purchased in 2012, is adjacent to the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch. Photo by Scott Hein
There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done to protect the Marsh Creek watershed.
Piece by piece, for decades, we have been working to create a permanently protected wildlife corridor connecting Mount Diablo to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta.
So far, Save Mount Diablo and its partners have protected more than 120,000 acres within the Marsh Creek watershed and the Mount Diablo region.
Save Mount Diablo’s Curry Canyon Ranch property, which is part of the land we’ve protected in the Marsh Creek watershed. Photo by Stephen Joseph
Some of this land has been protected by Save Mount Diablo directly through land acquisition. The land includes our Marsh Creek properties, and we regularly invite volunteers out to help steward these properties.
This year, we put hundreds of plants in the ground at our Marsh Creek properties, planting native bunchgrasses, yarrow, sage, oak trees, and more.
Diablo Restoration Team volunteers planting native plants at Save Mount Diablo’s Marsh Creek 7 property earlier this year. Photo by Haley Sutton
In the future, if more of the Marsh Creek watershed is protected and restored, this land will hopefully support the return of more animals that historically inhabited Mount Diablo.
California condor have already been tracked soaring above Mount Diablo, and chinook salmon have been spotted in recent years in the lower reaches of Marsh Creek.
American badgers have been seen near Sand Creek, a tributary of Marsh Creek, and at Save Mount Diablo’s Curry Canyon Ranch property, which is also in the Marsh Creek watershed. Perhaps one day tule elk and pronghorn will also return.
American badger. Photo by Scott Hein
Recently, American Rivers completed the Three Creeks project, which restored almost a mile of riparian habitat along lower Marsh Creek.
This project, along with a fish ladder that was completed in 2010, has been a major step towards facilitating the return of salmon to Marsh Creek.
As we increase protected lands along Marsh Creek, more and more of this habitat will be restored for wildlife, and Mount Diablo’s connection to the Delta will be maintained and enhanced.
Help Save the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch!
The Ginochio Schwendel Ranch’s unusual geology supports numerous rare wildlife and plant species. Photo by Scott Hein
Last December, we signed an option agreement to purchase the 98-acre Ginochio Schwendel Ranch.
The property is directly adjacent to Marsh Creek 5, a 7.4-acre site that includes an undercrossing for wildlife and a 100-feet segment of Marsh Creek.
By acquiring the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch, we will create a continuous protected area along Marsh Creek, and take a significant step towards the preservation of this wildlife corridor.
The Ginochio Schwendel Ranch is a distinctive and biodiverse landscape, containing unusual dacite volcanic habitat that, thanks to its unique geology, can support numerous rare and native species.
We need to raise $1.455 million to acquire and protect the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch by December of this year. Please help us save this key 98-acre parcel within the Marsh Creek watershed and donate today!
Pacific hound’s tongue blooming this spring at Ginochio Schwendel Ranch. Photo by Laura Kindsvater
