Last June, the Truckee Donner Land Trust announced the purchase of the 26-acre Truckee Springs site in downtown in order to protect and preserve the area.

The site is set to become much larger following a decision from the California Wildlife Conservation Board to give another 41 neighboring acres to the land trust, expanding Truckee Springs from South River Street nearly all the way to Highway 89.

“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife West River Unit of the Truckee River Wildlife Area was acquired to provide public fishing access, but it was surrounded by private property,” said Sara Holm, wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a news release. “We were working with the town of Truckee to construct a portion of the Legacy Trail through this area to help with access when our partners at the land trust started working on the acquisition of the Truckee Springs property. The best solution was to release the West River Unit to the land trust so that these parcels had one owner and legal public access could be provided for everyone who enjoys the Truckee River.”

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The new areas of Truckee Springs include numerous river access points, riparian habitat, mixed conifer forest, and a meadow.

“This addition shows the power of your giving, leveraging your generous donations to grow protected lands in our region,” the land trust said. “On behalf of our board and staff, we are honored by the Wildlife Conservation Board’s trust in the land trust to care for this land and to accomplish what they set out to do with it 50 years ago. Likewise, we want to thank you for donating to Truckee Springs – without your support we would not have been able to protect Truckee Springs, which gave the Wildlife Conservation Board the confidence to convey the 41 acres.”

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The land trust is working to provide public access as soon as possible, as there is no parking available on the property or on South River Street.

Justin Scacco is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun. He can be reached at jscacco@sierrasun.com