The Land Trust

The Land Trust was formed to acquire and hold land in a way that benefits the whole community with permaculture principles. We were formed in 2013 by several groups in Big Bend, including the Big Bend Hot Springs Project and Rock Garden Springs. While we have been through many changes, including our name and our leadership, we have worked to build agricultural, economic and social developments to Big Bend, stewarding our land to those ends.

Here are all of our initial founding legal documents:

Big Bend, California

Big Bend is a small, remote town in the forested mountains of north-central Shasta County, located in the ancestral homeland of the Madesi people of the Pit River Tribe. The valley is shaped by the Pit River and its many tributaries, surrounded by mixed conifer forests of Douglas fir, pine, cedar, and oak. For thousands of years, the Madesi lived, hunted, fished, and gathered here, caring for the land through seasonal practices that maintained the health of the watershed and supported a sustainable relationship with the ecosystem.

In the early 20th century, new waves of settlers and industries arrived, drawn by the region’s timber, grazing lands, and abundant water. Beginning in the 1910s and accelerating through the 1930s, a series of major hydroelectric projects dramatically reshaped the river and the surrounding landscape. The construction of dams, reservoirs, penstocks, and tunnels fundamentally altered the flow of the Pit River and the availability of natural resources that had supported local communities for generations. These projects brought new infrastructure and employment, but also long-term ecological and cultural impacts that continue to influence the valley today.

As the industrial era waned, Big Bend’s population declined drastically along with the logging and large infrastructure projects. Eventually, the only people moving here with back-to-the-landers in the 1970s. Then, in the early years of the 21st century, some new people started arriving bringing new energy, starting with the forming of a small rural commune, and then the purchase of the Big Bend Hot Springs Project.