Placer Land Trust adds 160 acres to the map

A 160-acre hilltop property northwest of Auburn is the latest acquisition by the Placer Land Trust -- bringing the nonprofit group one step closer to linking Placer County's Hidden Falls Regional Park to the trust's other preserved land in the area.The oak-studded property, about half-a mile from the recently opened regional park, was bought from well-known San Franciscan Florence Fang, publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. Sale price was $1.05 million.Jeff Darlington, trust executive director, said Wednesday that the organization learned about a year ago that Fang had put the property on the market and acted quickly to attempt to reach a sale. The land, overlooking the Sacramento Valley, is believed to have been a Fang investment property since at least the 1970s.The parcel has been named the Kotomyan Big Hill Preserve, after a historic Nisenan village in the Big Hill area. It's located near Bell Road in the vicinity of the Auburn Valley Country Club.The 15-year-old land trust has now protected a total of 481 contiguous acres of oak woodlands in the Big Hill area.The trust is working with Placer County and nearby landowners to create a seven-mile public trail from the Hidden Falls park, through Kotomyan and Taylor Ranch properties and north to the Bear River.Funding for the purchase came from Placer Land Trust membership donations, plus grants from the California Wildlife Foundation, Sky View Foundation and California Oaks Foundation.The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com, or post a comment at auburnjournal.com.