The Spenceville Wildlife Area is an

wildlife preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

managed by the

California Department of Fish and Wildlife The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is an American state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages ...

. It is located in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

Foothills, within Nevada County and

Yuba County Yuba County (; Maidu: ''Yubu'') is a county located in north-central Central Valley, California, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 81,575. Yuba County is included in the Yuba City metropolitan statistical area, ...

of northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. DFW.ca.gov: Spenceville Wildlife Area
/ref>

Geography

The preserve is approximately east of the town of Marysville and

Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base in Yuba County, California, Yuba County, California. It is outside Linda, California, Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville, California, Marysville and Yuba City, and abo ...

in the eastern

Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

. The elevation of the area varies from .

Natural history

Spenceville is a foothill oak woodland of Blue oak (''Quercus douglasii'') and Foothill gray pine (''Pinus sabiniana''), and a grassland

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

. It is notable for many species of native birds and wildflowers, including the California endemic Yellow mariposa lily (''Calochortus luteus''). The

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

of the Spenceville area is part of the

Smartville Block The Smartville Block, also called the Smartville Ophiolite, Smartville Complex, or Smartville Intrusive Complex, is a geologic terrane formed in the ocean from a volcanic island arc that was accreted onto the North American Plate during the late ...

formed during the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relativel ...

epoch 200 million years ago. The Smartville Block is a part of the California Mother Lode for gold, and consequently Spenceville has had its share of mining activity. Cleanup from copper and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

mining continues to this day. Consrv.ca.gov: ''Spenceville Wildlife Area mine site cleanup''
State of California. 2007. The area was originally home to the

Maidu The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...

and

Nisenan The Nisenan are a group of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and an Indigenous people of California from the Yuba River and American River watersheds in Northern California and the California Central Valley. According to a ...

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

s and evidence of their grinding holes and lodge pits still exist.

Recreation

Spenceville hosts a variety of activities:

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

, biking, hunting, hunting dog field trials, target shooting, camping,

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

trail riding,

birding Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, ...

, and primitive camping. A popular trail leads to a double waterfall calle
Fairy Falls
(a.k.a. Beale Falls, Shingle Falls, or Dry Creek Falls). There can be a high level of rattlesnakes seasonally.

Conservation

The Spenceville Wildlife Area may be environmentally impacted by the Waldo Dam Project proposed by the Yuba County Water Agency, and by housing development proposed between

and the wildlife area.

References

External links

California Department of Fish and Wildlife−DFW: official Spenceville Wildlife Area websiteCA−DFW: Map of Spenceville Wildlife Area Friends of Spenceville website
{{Protected areas of California, SWA Nature reserves in California California Department of Fish and Wildlife areas Protected areas of Yuba County, California Protected areas of Nevada County, California Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) 1968 establishments in California Protected areas established in 1968