In 1984, The Nature Conservancy purchased 85 acres of old-growth riparian forest approximately 20 miles south of Sacramento, establishing the Cosumnes River Preserve. The partnership is now a consortium of nine private and public entities including The Nature Conservancy, US Bureau of Land Management, Ducks Unlimited, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Water Resource, and Sacramento County Regional Parks, and the California State Lands Commission, and has acquired lands and conservation easements that now protect 50,000 acres, encompassing floodplain, riparian forest, blue and valley oak woodlands, freshwater wetlands, vernal pool grasslands and important farmlands. © USFWS