Butte creek ecological preserve

John Works Trappers

Te earliest white people to visit
the Butte Creek area (as far as can be
determined) were a party of Hudson
Bay trappers lead by John Work, a native
of Londonberry, Ireland, who joined
the ranks of the Hudson Bay Company
upon arrival in Pacifc Northwest. Work
had heard a report at Fort Vancouver
by American trapper Jedediah Smith,
whose accounts of the interior California
streams led Work to believe there were
quality furs of a great amount in the
Butte Creek area. Tus he set up a
brigade. Tey lef Fort Vancouver to
Butte Creek; upon arrival, the party
set up their main headquarters and
established smaller parties, each assigned
to search, trap beaver and otter in the
many rivers and creeks within the area.
Works brigade spent around ffeen
months in California, and it turned out
to be a disappointment in many ways.
Furs were not as plentiful as anticipated
and Indians were ofen hostile and
rebellious, stealing horses at every
opportunity. Te second summer they
were hit with illness that was common
between the natives and the Europeans.
Despite the harsh conditions, the brigade
continued North past Pine Creek, Deer
Creek, Battle Creek, and on up Cow
Creek, in their trajectory back to Fort
Vancouver.
Helltown
Te second mining camp on Butte
Creek was Helltown, located seven miles
above Diamondville on a low hillside
well into the canyon. Tis mining
camp was established during 1849 and
1850, about the same time as Rich Bar,
but never had a formal town laid out.
Not more than a quarter mile west of
Helltown was a ranch of one hundred-
sixty acres, home of Samuel Nicholl.
Later this ranch was sold to Helen
Nicholl for $200.
More than twenty-fve Helltown
families moved away, partly because
of fres. But the main reason was for
themto take their children to where
educational opportunities are more
abundant.
James Diamond of
Diamondville
Diamondville is located about 4 miles
west fromParadise. Te California Gold
Rush (1848-1855) was the reason for the
arrival of miners in Butte Creek as early as
1849. Mining began along the banks and
streambed of Butte Creek at Rich Bar, later
named Diamonville afer James Diamond
who owned the acre of land on which the
town was later erected. James Diamond
eventually disposed of the Diamondville
property to E.B. Bond of Chico. He
continued his mining interests across the
ridge to the west on Little Chico Creek.
Chinese of Butte Creek
As indicated in the Butte County records,
the mining along the length of Butte Creek
was carried out by the Chinese Mining
Companies. Few held individual claims, but
not for long as they were absorbed by the
more infuential companies. Ah Cone was
in charge of several mining companies. Te
Ah Cone Company of ten miners in 1857
was mining twelve-hundred feet of bed of
Butte Creek on the north side a mile above
Diamondville. At the same time he also
had a company of twelve men mining a
thousand feet of the creek bed, about a mile
above Whisky Flat, beyond Helltown. Other
Chinese mining companies included the Ah
Fond Company, and the Ah Oh Company,
and the Ah Gaw Company. As the Chinese
population increased, the Chinese miners
established their own Chinatown on the
north side of Butte Creek, a short distance
fromDiamondville. Records show that the
white men and Chinese got along fairly well
for twenty years. However feelings began to
change as streams of Chinese miners came
into the Butte Creek Canyon, willing to
work for less wages, hardly ever more than
a dollar a day. Te white miners revised the
mining laws in the Centerville-Helltown
Mining areas to read No Chinaman shall
be allowed to work on Butte Creek above
the head of the Diamondville Ditch in the
mines nor shall they be allowed to hold
claims by purchase above said point.
Under this arrangement, situations
in Butte Creek worsened. Early in 1880s
three Chinese were shot and killed between
Centerville and Helltown, by John Holden
and his two sons, who claimed the Chinese
had jumped their mining claim. About
midnight one evening in November
1882, the Chinatown on Butte Creek was
burned. Te inhabitants lost everything
but they rebuilt their town aferwards. An
Anti-Chinese Association was formed at
Centerville in 1886 for the expulsion of the
Chinese fromthe Butte Creek area.
As the gold played out, the
Chinese miners gradually lef their
Chinatown on the Banks of Butte
Creek; some settled in Marysville or
San Francisco, while others returned
to their homeland.
Early Settlers
The Site | The Activities
Old Diamondville
Its gay saloons, hotels and stores
Have crumbled into dust,
And naught is lef to mark the place
But desolations rust.
Te men who drank and laughed and
wrought,
And played the game of slide,
Who cared not what the morrow brought,
Are scattered far and wide.
In honor of James Diamond,
Te place received its name
A noble son of Erin,
Who frst staked out a claim.
A tiptop man was Jimmie,
And liberal with all;
But now he has another claim,
Where Shastas snowfakes fall.
[Tis verse was written to the
memory of James Diamond by
Pres Longley, Bard Of Butte. ]
o zz (o poo :,oo :,8oo
Peet
N
Legend
parcel
Chinese people in Butte county, ca. 1880
Bird Banding
Ornithologists employ a wide range
of techniques in the study of wild birds.
One technique is banding, a traditional
practice that dates back to its origin(s) in
the Middle Ages. Te diferent categories
of study include migration, population,
territoriality, behaviours, etc. Metal or
plastic tags that individually bear unique
numbers are attached to the captured
birds wing or leg. Te tagged bird is then
released into the wild. Data is collected
through a process of re-identifcation of
the individual birds with the help of the
tags attached to them.
Dawn Garcia, a graduate student
in the Geological and Environmental
Sciences department at CSU Chico
has been documenting the migration
of neotropical birds since 2006 on two
of the Universities reserves; the Butte
Creek Ecological Preserve (BCEP) and
the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve
(BCCER). In 2006 alone, Dawn and
her teambanded 577 individuals of
52 species! Twenty-two (42%) of the
Nature Restoration
It is difcult to speak of restoration
without touching its core concepts,
and one concept that is employed
by philosophers and restorationists
alike is the land ethic. A fragment
of Aldo Leopolds A Sand County
Almanac goes as follows: Te land
ethic simply enlarges the boundaries
of the community to include soils,
waters, plants and animals, or
collectively: the land. Twentieth century
environmentalismmight overlook
a duller side of its feld, and this has
to do with the afermaths of a given
landscape afer exploitation. Tis is
the domain of restoration. Restoration
can take on many forms depending on
the focus of the frame to restore, but
lies at the central of it is the ecological
structure of a site. Nature restoration
is, doubtless, a topic that is prominent
amongst philosophers as well as nature
restorationists. Following the trajectory
set forth by Leopold, modern restoration
thinkers include WilliamR. Jordan III,
Eric Katz, Andrew Light, Cheryl Foster
and Paul H. Gobster.
So what is restoration?
At the outset of human history, it is
nature that has given us the appropriate
nurture that we need to exist as a species.
Nature restoration, then, takes up the
role of the humble steward: as a gif back
to the land, back to nature.
species were neotropical migrants. Tey
also conduct point counts on the Reserves
to detect all species using the site other than
those captured in nets.
Controlled Burning
Ecology works in checks and balances
and it is a concept that embraces
equilibrium(s). One factor to achieve the
equilibriumof a given ecological are is
fre. Although fre is employed extensively
by the Forest Service, restorationists
always keep this technique within their
consideration. Fire is an inherent part of
natural forests and grasslands, so controlled
burning is thus a non-chemical method
of control when it comes to restoration.
When new species are introduced to a
region diferent fromits natural habitat,
some will fourish, while others will not
survive. On the occasion when a non-native
plant becomes over-aggressive, it will start
to alter the native habitat. Restorationists
will controllably burn the prescribed area
in order to prevent the widespread of the
aggressive plant, while still retaining the
Te Butte Creek Ecological
Preserve is a 93-acre site along
the middle section of Butte
Creek. Te site was formerly
used for gold, sand and gravel
mining, and is recovering from
those activities. Te property
contains more than a mile of
creek frontage, which is critical
salmon habitat and spawning
grounds, as well as habitat for
many species of special status,
including Chinook salmon
and bald eagle. In December
1998 the University Research
Foundation purchased this site
with grants fromthe US Fish
and Wildlife Service, National
Fish and Wildlife Federation,
CALFED, and the Wildlife
Conservation Board. Te goal
of the preserve is to work in
conjunction with other programs
towards achieving a reasonable
balance among the diverse
demands on the resource base of
the Butte Creek watershed. Te
pristine condition of the original landscape,
enabling native plants to regrow.
Due to the risk involved with starting an
outside burn, BCEP must get permission
fromthe Fire Department to ensure all
the proper material are within reach, in
case of an emergency. Our resident feld
director, Don Hankins, is in charge of all the
controlled burnings which happen on the
premises.
Restoration is the idea of helping the
land recover fromthe efects of human
usemostly having to speed up the
time of recovery. Restoration is not the
domestication of a landscape. On the
contrary, it is the wildness of a landscape
that is the end. On this aspect, William
R Jordan III writes restoration is, quite
literally, agriculture in reverse. If the
gardener or farmer in some sense takes
charge of the hold on it in an attempt
to turn it back over to itself, or, more
accurately, to let it beand to help it
becomewhat it used to be before he or she
or we arrived in it. (emphasis added)
The value of Restoration
Meaning is an important aspect when it
comes to restoring nature. In the traditional
view, there is an underlying notion that
results in a dualism: what we can consider
natural, and what cultural. However,
while this view is still around, there are
yet more important factors when it comes
to assessing the value of restoration. Te
diference lies in the practice itself: to
implement Leopolds land ethic, to identify
a relationship not froma perspective of
nature, nor that of culture, but fromthe
perspective of the land community. It is
important to note that this community
depends on exchangespecifcally the
exchange of gifs; in the process, there is a
reward for the restorationists because it is
themwho know what nature has to ofer
us. In so knowing, they respond in sync
with what has been given, as a gif that
is handed back. Te value of restoration
is thus the dynamics of a negotiated
relationship between humans and the rest
of the biotic community. Tere was a time
when the biotic community and the human
community are spontaneous and of no
diference.
Whatever the philosophical stance, the
role of the restorationist is, at the present,
of great signifcance. If restoration is a form
of exchange, then let this exchange bring us
back to the realmof nature, let it remind us
how the bargain works and everything will
follow fromthere. Fromthis standpoint,
restoration is not limited to its practice, but
it extends to a more important value: an
attempt to restore the mindset.
What do restorationists do?
To restore is not merely an act of
restoring the appearance of the landscape,
but to mimic its process(es). Complexity
is the word: it deals with the complex
reintroduction of assemblages, and for
the restorationists, it means to re-wild
the landscape. To this end, history might
play a role in restoration, but it does not
mean that it is the task of restorationists to
restore and landscape to a point in history.
Te burden of the restorationist is that he/
she works with a landscape that has been
changed, so restoration is a decision on
what to do with it.
:88o
Early in 1880, three Chinese were shot and
killed by John Holden and his sons.
:8i
August 17, John Works
Hudson Bay Company le
Fort Vancouver, WA.
:8o
:8{o
:8o :8,o :8o
:8
October 31, John Works Hudson Bay
Company returned to Fort Vancouver, WA
:8i
Chinese arrived to the Butte Creek
Mining Region
:8
Samuel Nicholl settled in a hundred-sixty acre
ranch near Helltown
:8,
June 12, Rich Bars name changed to
Diamondville aer James Diamond
:8oo
Samuel Nicholl of
Helltown sold his ranch to
Helen Nicholl
:8o
James Diamond disposed his
property to E.B. Bond of Chico
:8,
Mining laws in the Centerville-Helltown Mining
areas revised so that Chinamen would not be in
mines or hold claims above Diamondville
:8,
Helltown abandoned
:88i
November of 1882,
Chinatown in Butte Creek
was burnt to the ground
:88o
Birth of
Anti-Chinese
Association.
:8{8-:8
e Gold Rush
Timeline
research foundation will provide
an adaptive approach to managing
the property. Programareas
at the preserve include habitat
management and conservation,
outreach and education, and
research.
Te reserve is open to the public
year round.
Seeing the Salmon Run
Butte Creek supports the largest
run of wild, naturally spawned
spring run (instead of fall run)
Chinook salmon in California. By
having an underwater camera in
the river, we are able to watch the
movement of Salmon. Unlike other
fsh, Salmon hatch in fresh water
and then migrate to the ocean for
the majority of their lives; they
return to fresh water streams for
their spawning and death. Each
spring the salmon take part in a
laborious journey, up the river to
reach their spawning grounds.
According to California
Department of Fish and Game,
Spring-run Chinook salmons were
historically the most abundant
race in the Central Valley. Now
only remnant runs remain in
Butte, Mill, Deer, Antelope, and
BeegumCreeks, tributaries to
the Sacramento River. Due to the
small number of non-hybridized
populations remaining and
low population sizes, Central
Valley spring-run were listed as
threatened under both the state
and federal endangered species acts
in 1999.
Te Gold Rush in 1849
began with an infux of people
primarily fromthe eastern
United States into California to
fnd their fortune in gold.
For the scope of how much
gold taken fromButte County,
the website, Western Mining
History states that, most of
the gold came fromplacers, which
produced about 3,123,115 ounces
from1880-1959.
Te gold that has been found in
Butte Creek were placer-mined
during the gold rush and hydraulic
mining and some drif mining of
Tertiary gravels followed. Tere is
no record of how much gold was
extracted fromButte Creek prior to
1880.
Dredging was the primary
method used in extracting gold
fromButte Creek in the early half
of the 20th century. Dredging
depths ranged from13 to 35 feet.
A History of Gold Mining in Butte Creek
Big chico creek
ecological reserve
Geologic Formation(s)
Education | BCCER
In his book Earth In Mind, David W Orr included a
heading in the frst chapter called Reconstruction. Tis
little fragment ends the frst chapter beautifully with him
providing a working model for what future education
should look like; it goes as follows:
[N]o student should graduate fromany educational
institution without a basic comprehension of things like
the following:
the laws of thermodynamics,
the basic principles of ecology,
carrying capacity,
energetics,
a knowledge of local soils, fora, fauna, and the local
watershed.
Te aesthetics of David Orrs words work on many
diferent levels in the task of reconstructing. But not less
important is that this reconstruction has to happen some
where: it needs a site of education. Tis is where the 3,950
acres of diverse canyon and ridge habitat can become the
site of this reconstruction: the Big Chico Creek Ecological
Reserve (BCCER) is a site of a wide variety of habitats,
including creek rifes and pools, riparian areas, oak
woodlands, chaparral, pine forest, rock clifs, and springs.
Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve
is home to several geologic formations
layered on top of each other. Tey
are visible in the sides of the steep
canyons carved by Big Chico Creek.
Te upper Reserve is part of the young
Tuscan Formation made of layered ash
and volcanic mud fows. Te Tuscan
Formation is approximately 2.8 to 3.3
million years old. Just beneath the Tuscan
Formation is the dark Lovejoy Basalt
which fowed about 17 million years ago
fromvents near Susanville. Tat Basalt
reaches fromHoney Lake to Sacramento
Valley. Te top of the formation forms
the tableland of Stony Ridge, Mooreville
Te Lucas Family
Paul Lucas discovered what is now known as the Big
Chico Creek Ecological Reserve when leading his oxen to
fertile ground during the Gold Rush (1848-1855). He ran
a successful ranching operation here with his wife Ellen.
Afer Paul Lucass death in 1879, his eldest son John took
over and expanded his fathers ranching operation.
Te picture above is of the Lucas family, but identities
of specifc people in the picture are not yet determined.
(Picture courtesy of Special Collections Dept, Chico State)
Te 14-Mile House
Te 14-Mile House served as a boarding house
for travelers on Humboldt Road could rest and get
something to eat. Similar houses were sparsely built far
away fromeach other that it took travelers a full day
to reach fromone to the next boarding house. Built
by John Lucas on the land owned by his father Paul,
this business prospered with the aid of Johns mother
Ellen who supplied the travelers with food and fresh
vegetables fromher garden. (Picture courtesy of Special
Collections Dept, Chico State).
Te fume crossing over Little Chico Creek.
Tis was the solution for transporting timber across
long distances. Te fume is an impressive means of
transportation that used gravity to carry timber down the
its structure with the aid of rushing water. Occasionally
it is used for used for personal transportation. (Picture
courtesy of Special Collections Dept, Chico State).
European Settlement
Unlike most men who headed west for the pursuit of gold, Paul Lucas was one of the more prominent European settlers who moved away
fromthe gold craze and decided to take up the ranching business instead. With the great gif fromthe landsteady supply of water, and
grassfor his oxen, Lucas was able to produce quality beef to supply to the men and women of Chico.
Tis 2500 acres of land known as the BCCER today was settled by Ellen and John Jack LucasPaul Lucass wife and son, respectively
thanks to the successful business expansion to the 14-Mile house fromthe original ranching operation.
Nature Restoration
It is difcult to speak of restoration
without touching its core concepts,
and one concept that is employed
by philosophers and restorationists
alike is the land ethic. A fragment
of Aldo Leopolds A Sand County
Almanac goes as follows: Te land
ethic simply enlarges the boundaries
of the community to include soils,
waters, plants and animals, or
collectively: the land. Twentieth century
environmentalismmight overlook
a duller side of its feld, and this has
to do with the afermaths of a given
landscape afer exploitation. Tis is
the domain of restoration. Restoration
can take on many forms depending on
the focus of the frame to restore, but
lies at the central of it is the ecological
structure of a site. Nature restoration
is, doubtless, a topic that is prominent
amongst philosophers as well as nature
restorationists. Following the trajectory
set forth by Leopold, modern restoration
thinkers include WilliamR. Jordan III,
Eric Katz, Andrew Light, Cheryl Foster
and Paul H. Gobster.
So what is restoration?
At the outset of human history, it is
nature that has given us the appropriate
nurture that we need to exist as a species.
Nature restoration, then, takes up the role
of the humble steward: as a gif back to the
land, back to nature.
Restoration is the idea of helping the
land recover fromthe efects of human
usemostly having to speed up the
time of recovery. Restoration is not the
domestication of a landscape. On the
contrary, it is the wildness of a landscape
that is the end. On this aspect, William
R Jordan III writes restoration is, quite
literally, agriculture in reverse. If the
gardener or farmer in some sense takes
charge of the hold on it in an attempt
to turn it back over to itself, or, more
accurately, to let it beand to help it
becomewhat it used to be before he or she
or we arrived in it. (emphasis added)
The value of Restoration
Meaning is an important aspect when it
comes to restoring nature. In the traditional
view, there is an underlying notion that
results in a dualism: what we can consider
natural, and what cultural. However,
while this view is still around, there are
yet more important factors when it comes
to assessing the value of restoration. Te
diference lies in the practice itself: to
implement Leopolds land ethic, to identify
a relationship not froma perspective of
nature, nor that of culture, but fromthe
perspective of the land community. It is
important to note that this community
depends on exchangespecifcally the
exchange of gifs; in the process, there is
a reward for restorationists because it is
themwho know what nature has to ofer
us. In so knowing, they respond in sync
with what has been given, as a gif that
is handed back. Te value of restoration
is thus the dynamics of a negotiated
relationship between humans and the rest
of the biotic community. Tere was a time
when the biotic community and the human
community are spontaneous and of no
diference.
Whatever the philosophical stance, the
role of the restorationist is, at the present,
of great signifcance. If restoration is a form
of exchange, then let this exchange bring us
back to the realmof nature, let it remind us
how the bargain works and everything will
follow fromthere. Fromthis standpoint,
restoration is not limited to its practice, but
it extends to a more important value: an
attempt to restore the mindset.
What do restorationists do?
To restore is not merely an act
of restoring the appearance of the
landscape, but to mimic its process(es).
Complexity is the word: it deals with the
complex reintroduction of assemblages,
and for the restorationists, it means to
re-wild the landscape. To this end,
history might play a role in restoration,
but it does not mean that it is the task of
restorationists to restore and landscape
to a point in history. Te burden of the
restorationist is that he/she works with
a landscape that has been changed, so
restoration is a decision on what to do
with it.
Ridge, and Oroville Table Mountain. Below
the Lovejoy is the Chico Formation, about
75 million years old. Within the sandy rock
are many marine fossils. Tese fossils are
the remnants of marine organisms such as
gastropods. More than 75 million years ago,
this area was beneath a sea.
Te sloping masses of loose rocks at the
base of the clif are pieces of the Lovejoy
Basalt. Over thousands of years, wind and
water have shaped the appearance of the
clifs and the creek bed. Pieces of basalt
ranging fromsmall stones to huge boulders
have fallen fromthe clif faces and collected
along the creek. Tese large rocks are hiding
spaces and homes for insects, lizards, and
small mammals, such as the Western Skink
and the Striped Skunk.
Te Reserve is a diverse habitat rich in
geological stories. Te layers of the clifs
and the rocks underfoot all tell a story of the
past and continue to change as a dynamic
part of the landscape.
It hosts more than 140 diferent wildlife species, including
species requiring large territories of undisturbed habitat.
Te BCCER is currently owned by the California State
University, Chico, Research Foundation.
Te new era of education, as David Orr proposes, is not
an era of knowledge that happens without a ground, but
it is an era of palpable knowledge: the kind of knowledge
that can be touched. Te BCCER provides an area for
environmental research and education by focusing on the
students hands-on experience when it comes to managing
Earths natural system(s) by preserving critical habitats.
It is the place for understanding through observing and
taking feld notes. Tis is an implementation of a new
model: while Chico State provides the source of knowledge,
the BCCER is the site of knowledge.
The Site
Te Big Chico Creek Ecological
Reserve (BCCER) is owned by the
University Research Foundation and
managed by the Institute for Sustainable
Development of the California State
University, Chico. Te BCCER was
acquired in two land purchases in 1999
and 2001. Te University Research
Foundation purchased 3,950 acres of
land with grant money fromthe Wildlife
Conservation Board, the Packard
Foundation, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service, the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation, the River Network and Jack
Henning. Part of the purchase agreement
included a conservation easement held
by the Wildlife Conservation Board
and a Memorandumof Understanding
with the CA Department of Fish and
Game. A Technical Advisory Committee
met monthly for two years creating
a Master Management Plan for the
reserve. Trough adaptive management
further details have been added to create
supplemental Vegetation Management
and Fire Management Plans. Executing
these plans on such a large and varied
piece of property is challenging, but
we set priorities and do what we can as
resources become available.