North Auburn Oak Woodlands: Placer Board Authorizes $1 Million Toward 525-Acre Conservation Easement

NORTH AUBURN, Placer County — November 8, 2026. Placer County’s Board of Supervisors voted November 3 to authorize a purchase-and-sale agreement to acquire a conservation easement on 525 acres of primarily blue-oak woodland west of Auburn Valley Country Club. The site is called Harvego Bear River Preserve Phase 2.

What funding was authorized?

The board approved a county contribution of $1 million using the county Tree Preservation Fund. The Placer Conservation Authority is expected to add $1.8 million from conservation-program development fees, and Placer Land Trust anticipates seeking $5.2 million in California Wildlife Conservation Board grants. Expected grant funding is not the same as an award already received.

Why protect this particular area?

The property adjoins the existing Harvego Bear River Preserve, and the county says completion could connect more than 7,000 acres of protected open space and grazing lands from the Bear River toward Raccoon Creek and Hidden Falls Regional Park. The easement is intended to conserve habitat and ecological values while accommodating the project’s particular agricultural and land-use arrangements.

Does the action open a new public trail?

Not necessarily. An agreement authorizing acquisition of a conservation easement is not an announcement of public access, a new trailhead or final closure of the funding transaction. Residents should distinguish this project from the separate Big Hill Preserve public opening near North Auburn.

Source: Placer County November 3, 2026 official announcement.

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