Physical Description: The 56 acre Keeney Preserve is located in Butte County, California and borders nearly a mile of Butte Creek. The property is bound by Butte Creek on the east and the overflow channel on the west. To the northwest, the land is bordered by an almond orchard and to the southeast by Midway Rd. The land was formerly in almonds, a capital intensive crop, that had often been destroyed by flooding.

The headwaters of Butte Creek arise in the Lassen National Forest on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and flow southwest through a deep canyon in the foothill region, then into the Central Valley flowing southeast of the city of Chico. From Chico, much of the stream is leveed, intensive agricultural development abuts the levees, and, in many places, riparian habitat gives way to orchards within the extant floodplain. This section of the creek meanders in a southwesterly direction around the western side of the Sutter Buttes to its initial point of entry into the Sacramento River at Butte Slough. Butte Creek also enters the Sacramento River through the Sutter Bypass and Sacramento Slough.

Habitat Types: Steelhead and three of the four salmon races are found in Butte Creek: fall-run, late fall-run, and spring-run. The salmon races are named for the season of the run but each race also spawns in a different portion of the Creek. Butte Creek is one of the most important streams remaining in California for conservation of spring-run Chinook salmon. The spring-run, which may have been the most abundant race of salmon in California, is now limited to the Sacramento River and its tributaries. Spring-run salmon spend the summer in deep cool pools and spawn in early fall at higher elevations. Butte Creek also supports fall-run Chinook salmon at levels slightly below those of the spring-run. These fish typically spawn in the downstream areas of Butte Creek. In winter, Bald eagles are frequently observed feeding on salmon. The preserve is currently being restored to a riparian forest. The existing riparian vegetation is dominated by cottonwoods and willows, however, valley oak, black walnut, alder, Oregon ash, sycamore, and elderberry shrubs are also well established. The understory is a mixture of native and nonnative grasses. The goal is to restore a significant portion of the 56 acres to riparian habitat and increase the shaded riverine aquatic habitat to support anadromous fish. The restoration plan relies significantly on passive restoration. Past experience at other sites shows that riparian forests can be passively regenerated. The process of colonization began immediately after the orchard was removed, and the larger trees are already over 25' in height and 12" in dbh.

Conservation Purpose: With funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Anadromous Fish Restoration Project, the Center purchased the 56 acres on Butte Creek in October of 1997 for the purpose creating a 15-acre riparian mitigation site within the 50-acre riparian restoration. The project was originally conceived as a mitigation site by the Butte County Fish and Game Commission.

Manager: The preserve is being managed by Cathy Little. The Center for Natural Lands Management owns the preserve and oversees the restoration and long-term management. Access requires prior permission from the Preserve Manager.

For information and inquiries please contact:

Cathy Little
Preserve Manager
e-mail: clittle@cnlm.org