In this photo provided by Save the Redwoods League, it is the Lost Coast Redwoods property near Rockport, California on December 2, 2021. The organization plans to purchase and protect a five-mile stretch of the rugged Northern California coast, which has been felled for more than a century and still contains some ancient redwoods. (Max Whittaker/Save the Sequoia Alliance through the Associated Press)

Los Angeles (AP)-The rugged Lost Coast is about to become less daunting.

A conservation organization said Thursday that it plans to purchase a 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch of scenic Northern California coastline from a timber company to protect it from logging and eventually open it to the public.

Save the Sequoia Alliance said that if it can raise funds before the end of the year, it agreed to pay nearly 37 million U.S. dollars for DeVilbiss Ranch.

"This is California that inspires," said Sam Holder, president and CEO of the alliance. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The property is located at the southern end of the mostly undeveloped Lost Coast. It is an unruly landscape with no highways and surrounded by woodland that is forbidden to the public.

The forest-covered hills on the ranch rushed straight to the secluded beach. The waves hit the sea pile. The dense forest is full of green ferns and thick moss. Sequoias and firs have a century-old tower top. Two small streams are inhabited by coho salmon and hardhead trout. The grasslands and woods are home to Roosevelt's elk, deer, and mountain lions. The habitat supports endangered species such as the Northern Spotted Owl, Marbled Puffin, and Pacific Fisherman.

Some ancient redwoods still remain on the ridgeline, and strong winds blow over their tops, making them less valuable than wood and protecting their saw blades.

Hodder said the Rockport property, located 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of San Francisco, is the largest privately owned portion of California's coastline, from Oregon to the Sequoia Mountains of Big Sur.

It is sold by Soper-Wheeler's parent company, Soper Co., and Soper-Wheeler will leave the logging industry after 160 years of family ties with the company.

"If you don't go to a third world country, you can hardly find 5 miles of coastline for sale," said Aric Starck, Soper's executive chairman and family member who owns it. "This one is very unique."

Stark said logging companies, ranches and other conservation organizations also bid for the property.

Hodder said that the 5 square miles (13 square kilometers) of land was selectively felled, so it did not find significant felling in some woodlands. Most of the forest is 80 to 100-year-old secondary-growing sequoias up to 200 feet (61 meters) tall.

Stark said Soper is selling its land because it has become increasingly difficult to make a profit in an already integrated timber industry that faces stricter environmental restrictions. Like other multi-generational family businesses, it has encountered a growing number of heirs who are interested in something other than logging.

Except for one-fifth of the 172 square miles (445 square kilometers) of land that the company began to sell three years ago, all have been sold. It plans to sell all of its acreage before the end of next year.

"This is a sad moment in the company's history," Stark said. "These are truly unique properties, and it is always difficult to separate them."

Hodder said that since the late 1800s, the area has been heavily deforested and most of the area was cleared at the turn of the last century. Today, only 5% of the ancient coastal sequoias — the tallest trees on earth — still exist.

Logging and other private lands prevented access to most of the Lost Coast region until the Kings Mountains National Reserve was established in the 1970s.

Lost Coast Trail is an arduous hiking route that disappears at high tide along a deserted rocky beach, passing through rivers and steep cliffs, and extending along the coast.

Hodder said that through the acquisition, the route could be extended by 5 miles. The alliance will investigate this land, looking for possible routes and public passages.

Richard Gienger, a watershed advocate in the region, welcomed the news of the acquisition, but said that most of the rugged coastline would still be inaccessible. The property is not far from the land of another timber company. Cottaneva Creek flows into the Pacific Ocean and provides easy access to the beach.

"This is a very important channel, but I don't think it can be overemphasized: the next step is to link the public to Rockport Beach, and it may cost twice as much," Gienger said.

Save the Redwoods owns a property south of the beach and also owns the Shady Dell area, which is connected to Sinkyone Wilderness State Park just north of the ranch.

The alliance plans to eventually transfer its property to a public or tribal agency for management. It protects more than 200,000 acres of forests, which have become part of 66 state and national parks and reserves.

It usually transfers property at a certain percentage of fair market value.

"This enables public institutions to obtain it at a favorable price," he said. "The risk of the alliance intervening and buying real estate is a risk that cannot be assumed by the public agency partners."

Michael Evanson, vice chairman of the Lost Coast Coalition, which advocates for the protection of water and wildlife in the area, said the acquisition will further help connect areas where different species can migrate to cooler areas as the climate warms.

"If there were only islands with timber company land, they were younger, hotter, and easier to catch fire, they would not create these wildlife corridors," Evanson said. "This purchase may have a very good impact on many species, which will look for terrain that humans cannot easily reach."

So far, it has pledged to purchase 10 million U.S. dollars, but the alliance is also working to raise an additional 6.5 million U.S. dollars needed to manage and protect property. It raised a total of US$43.4 million, the highest amount it has sought in such a short period of time.

It will launch a digital fundraising campaign on Friday, and if it fails to meet its target, it will consider obtaining low-interest financing or using reserves.

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