Joe Silveira led NCRLT’s Lands Committee for a Spring field tour of Llano Seco

Our tour began inside the historic Cookhouse, where Joe shared his knowledge to whet our appetites for what we’d see in the field. Locally-sourced appetizers were enjoyed!

Those who attended last Fall’s Harvest Dinner will recall that the Auction items included several Eco-tours. Spring means these tours are underway! While the Llano Seco tour is typically held at the end of January, a delayed seasonal arrival of the birds convinced us to wait until February. Come February, the snow geese had finally arrived in large numbers, just as a wave of challenging flooding incidents further delayed our trips. So here we were looking into March and April, which was not conducive to our auction-winner’s impacted schedule during the tax season. Ultimately, our benefactor asked that we extend the tour to another group. So, on that final day of a busy tax season, your Northern California Regional Land Trust’s Lands Committee came together for a field tour.

Breaking from their monthly meetings to spend field time together, led by fellow committee member, Joe Silveira, made for a perfect evening on the Rancho. Between the cultural, natural, and hydrological history – there was much to discuss. This property’s conservation story involves a few key individuals over the years, most recently the family headed by Richard Thieriot, who died just last year at the age of 82. Son Charlie remains actively engaged in the Rancho’s planning and management.

But today this special place showed off the waterfowl, agricultural assets, lush riparian corridors, and blue skies with a light breeze. Sincere appreciation to Joe, our esteemed trip leader, who has graciously agreed to run the tour for our 2024 Auction winners again in 2026! Thank you to all of our Ecotour leaders, host properties, and auction bidders!