Black Butte Junction sits at a unique location just northwest of the Black Butte Cinder Cone at 3900 feet above sea level and a few miles west of Mount Shasta. To the west is 9025' Mount Eddy and, beyond that, several wilderness areas. The Black Butte Springs are located just above (east) of our land and Black Butte Creek flows across our property. It is hard to imagine a railroad yard in a more scenic location. Since our establishment, we've been engaged in a number of projects related to documenting, conserving and restoring the natural ecology of the area:

First, we've been identifying and documenting the diverse number of plant and animal species present on our land and the immediate vicinity on the pages below:
Bird List
Tree and Shrub List
Small (Non-woody) Plant List
Critter List

The land we have at Black Butte includes some areas of diverse natural forests. However, it also includes a substantial area of what was poorly managed pine plantation as well as the six-acre clearing, the former site of the Black Butte "wrecking yard."

Once the home of hundreds of junked cars, what we call the "compound" is now newly green - hundreds of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers are beginning to emerge and grow. We are planting some native tree and shrub species and watering new trees in order to help this process along. On both the compound and in the surrounding forest and chaparral areas, we have taken on the challenging projects of identifying and removing invasive non-native plant species and, especially in the plantation areas, carrying out "fuels reduction" for fire prevention. Dozens of volunteers have been helping with these projects.

For details on the work we are doing to restore a natural and diverse forest at Black Butte click here.

We are lucky to be located just a short distance west down the hill from the Black Butte Springs, one of a number of springs associated with Mount Shasta and the source of Black Butte Creek. The Spring, actually a cluster of springs on a hillside, flows cold and clear year round. According to a handmade sign at the springs:

"Black Butte, a volcanic cinder (cone), stands with a solid core. Talus slopes of dacite rock become snow capped upon the Cascade winters; whereas in Spring, water trickles down into sub-streams under its slopes into one of two basins. Black Butte's north aspect run-off fills a basin due west of this spring where bedrock of lava layers has created a water table, which through fissures this water flows."

In a generally dry area, the springs and creek are an important and rare resource, supporting plant and wildlife habitat. The creek is central to the reason why the railroad yard was located here as it supplies the historic Black Butte water tank. Between the Springs and the railroad, the creek supports a lush wetland meadow. It is then channelized in a culvert as it flows under the UP track. Once on our land west of the railroad, small channels diverge off the mainstream, forming a wetlands corridor through our land, teeming with a wide variety of plants, birds, fish and other critters.. Further downstream the creek supplies irrigation for pastureland before flowing into Boles Creek, a tributary of the Shasta River. Further downstream, north of Yreka, the Shasta River flows into the Klamath River.

Since mid-2007 we have been working to restore native habitat and to protect Black Butte Creek. This included carrying out some formal restoration activities in 2007-8 aimed at improving fish habitat and restoring native vegetation. We are committed to maintaining the creek/wetlands corridor as a protected natural area on our land. The Black Butte Springs are recognized as an important resource and were included in a recent study of the springs of Mt. Shasta, conducted by California Trout.

See our Links page for information on some of the organizations working to conserve and protect the natural environment in Siskiyou County and the wider region.

See our Images and Garden pages for info on some of the sustainability projects we are initiating at Black Butte, such as composting, greywater system, organic gardening, etc.