With an outpouring of community support, LCLT purchased the Wright family ranch and, three years later, the adjacent Keithly family ranch. These properties are part of the CA Department of Fish & Wildlife's Big Valley Conceptual Area Protection Plan, valued as preservation-priority parcels because of their impact on the health of Clear Lake and its watershed.  This area has also been identified by community stakeholders in public meetings as the top priority for saving and preserving because of the special qualities found here. 

These two LCLT acquisitions are the ancestral home of the Kuulanapo people. Kuulanapo is Pomo for water lily people. To honor this history, the name for this protected land is the Kuulanapo Wetland Preserve.  The preserve is as close to the original, natural shoreline as you can get.  It's home to black-tailed deer, California quail, wild turkey, raptors, waterfowl such as white pelicans, grebes, black bass, catfish, otter, mink, as well as habitats that support special status species including Clear Lake hitch and western pond turtle.  Habitats found on this property range from lake to creek to freshwater marsh and riparian areas, and from pasture to valley oak woodland.  There is even a small vernal pool!  It's an important conservation project for so many reasons besides how breathtakingly beautiful it is.