Description:  Conservation Easement

How does a conservation easement restrict the use of the land?
No public access is allowed

What is a Conservation Easement?
Conservation easements protect land for future generations while allowing owners to retain many private property rights and to live on and use their land.

An easement selectively targets only those rights necessary to protect specific conservation values, such as water quality or migration routes, and is individually tailored to meet a landowner's needs. Because the land remains in private ownership, with the remainder of the rights intact, an easement property continues to provide economic benefits for the area in the form of jobs, economic activity, and property taxes.

The easement is either voluntarily donated or sold by the landowner and constitutes a legally binding agreement that limits certain types of uses or prevents development from taking place on the land in perpetuity while the land remains in private hands.

Location:   2.2 Miles past the paved terminus at the west end of King Street

 History:   The modern history of Horse Creek Ranch dates back at least to the mid-1800's when it served as a horse resting, watering, and exchange depot for pioneers traveling to California and the Pacific coast via the original Lincoln Highway, now more popularly known as King's Canyon Road, which forms the northern and western boundaries of the property for almost one mile.

Certificated water rights and a still-in-use water flume ("Neal's Flume") similarly date back to this period. This water serves to infiltrate and replenish the City's watershed. In the winter the water is stored in the form of snow and the process of melting and infiltration also serves to replenish Carson City's water aquifer. From Kings Canyon Road looking south, one has a view unparalleled by any

Another site in Carson City. The meadows of Horse Creek Ranch and the adjacent Schulz Ranch stretch out immediately below, then the Schneider and Ascuaga ranches are visible in the mid-range, and finally Heavenly Valley Peak and Job's Peak, as well as the rest of the Sierra Nevada's reach into the distance. The property has indigenous populations of bear, mountain lions, eagles, great owls, and many other species under human pressure. It contains the headwaters of the north branch of Clear Creek, as well as half a dozen pure mountain springs. In short, Horse Creek Ranch is a unique and stunningly beautiful property, one of
very few left like it in the Sierras and most worthy of conservation.