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Washoe plans to open trailhead on Canepa Ranch

By Jeff DeLong, Reno Gazette Journal  jdelong@rgj.com • July 21, 2008
A watchful hawk perched on a nearby fence post. Up a sun-splashed hillside, a pair of mule deer bucks bounded through the brush, wary of some nearby human observers.  It's a scene of a type that plays out day after day at this scenic spot of land west of Reno, and one that more people might soon enjoy under recreation plans being developed by Washoe County and the U.S. Forest Service.

"It's a beautiful piece of land," said Doug Doolittle, who directs the county Department of Regional Parks and Open Space. "And it's going to be a wonderful property."  In 2002, Washoe County used $2.1 million from a parks bond sale to acquire about 120 acres of the historic Canepa Ranch.  The purchase was seen at the time as the most expedient and sure way to ensure the ranch could become public property, protecting both access to the river and mountainous national forest land to the south.
On July 8, Washoe County commissioners agreed to sell most of the ranch to the Forest Service for about $1.5 million. That money will go back to the county for future land purchases along the river.