McLaughlin Natural Reserve
Encyclopedia
The Donald and Sylvia McLaughlin Natural Reserve is a 7050 acres (28.5 km²) nature reserve
in Napa
and Lake
counties of California
, owned by the Homestake Mining Company. A signed agreement between Homestake Mining Company
and the University of California
established the reserve as a research and teaching facility in January 1993.
The Ray Krause Field Station was established on the reserve in 1998 and hosts university courses and research such as geology, plant evolution and genetics, among others. Although the reserve is not open to the general public, there are workshops, lectures, and guided field hikes available.
In 1999, Homestake Mining Company was given the Corporate Habitat of the Year award by the nonprofit Wildlife Habitat Council for the company's reclamation efforts and projects. The Homestake McLaughlin Mine Habitat Program includes sensitive species
protection, restoring disturbed areas and monitoring of wildlife and habitats.
The reserve is named for and located at the site of the McLaughlin gold mine, which began mining operations in 1985 and ended by 1996, with the first year producing 63,836 ounces of gold.
"It's serving as a model for how used-up mines can have a second life," states Sylvia McLaughlin, the reserve's namesake ., an environmental activist who also cofounded Save The Bay, to protect the San Francisco Bay
from infill and pollution.
Homestake Mining Company bought the land in 1981 from William Wilder, owner of the One Shot Mining Company which included the abandoned Manhattan Mercury Mine. The historic Manhattan mining pit became McLaughlin's. In 1992, Homestake purchased the nearby Gamble Ranch, and with a boundary adjustment, historic Knoxville as well. At the McLaughlin Natural Reserve, the town of Knoxville is a few stone walls, all that is left from a mining community of 300 people and fifty buildings during its heyday of the 1880s.
In 2006 the National Science Foundation
gave the University of California Natural Reserve System
more than $65,000 for construction of a greenhouse at the Mclaughlin reserve which is within the UC reserve system. Greenhouse facilities are used in studies such as plant ecological genetics.
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
in Napa
Napa County, California
Napa County is a county located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is coterminous with the Napa, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population is 136,484. The county seat is Napa....
and Lake
Lake County, California
Lake County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of California, north of the San Francisco Bay Area. It takes its name from Clear Lake, the dominant geographic feature in the county and the largest natural lake wholly within California...
counties of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, owned by the Homestake Mining Company. A signed agreement between Homestake Mining Company
Homestake Mining Company
The Homestake Mining Company was one of the largest gold mining businesses in the United States from the 19th century through the beginning of the 21st...
and the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
established the reserve as a research and teaching facility in January 1993.
The Ray Krause Field Station was established on the reserve in 1998 and hosts university courses and research such as geology, plant evolution and genetics, among others. Although the reserve is not open to the general public, there are workshops, lectures, and guided field hikes available.
In 1999, Homestake Mining Company was given the Corporate Habitat of the Year award by the nonprofit Wildlife Habitat Council for the company's reclamation efforts and projects. The Homestake McLaughlin Mine Habitat Program includes sensitive species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
protection, restoring disturbed areas and monitoring of wildlife and habitats.
The reserve is named for and located at the site of the McLaughlin gold mine, which began mining operations in 1985 and ended by 1996, with the first year producing 63,836 ounces of gold.
"It's serving as a model for how used-up mines can have a second life," states Sylvia McLaughlin, the reserve's namesake ., an environmental activist who also cofounded Save The Bay, to protect the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
from infill and pollution.
Homestake Mining Company bought the land in 1981 from William Wilder, owner of the One Shot Mining Company which included the abandoned Manhattan Mercury Mine. The historic Manhattan mining pit became McLaughlin's. In 1992, Homestake purchased the nearby Gamble Ranch, and with a boundary adjustment, historic Knoxville as well. At the McLaughlin Natural Reserve, the town of Knoxville is a few stone walls, all that is left from a mining community of 300 people and fifty buildings during its heyday of the 1880s.
In 2006 the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
gave the University of California Natural Reserve System
University of California Natural Reserve System
The University of California Natural Reserve System is a network of protected areas throughout California.The UCNRS consists of 37 wildland sites that include 750,000-plus acres, making it the largest university-administered reserve system in the world...
more than $65,000 for construction of a greenhouse at the Mclaughlin reserve which is within the UC reserve system. Greenhouse facilities are used in studies such as plant ecological genetics.