I've followed the tangled history of this purchase a little and it is quite a web of greed and intrigue. Some of California's wealthiest dynastic families own estates along the McCloud. When the Hearst family donated that big estate in Cambria to the State, they made sure to keep the real gem in their real estate empire, Wyntoon on the McCloud. Its where Patty went to lay low after her kidnapping and bank robbing exploits. The Schillings (spice empire), Fishers (Gap) and Hills (Hills Coffee) among others all own private estates. T
The Hills owned Bolibokka for several generations and it was run as a family operated private fishing club. in 2007 they put it up for sale with an asking price of $30 million. The lead bidder was a property developer who wanted to build several luxury compounds on the property so a few more reclusive billionaires could enjoy their piece of the McCloud. This would not have been bad for the river because half a dozen billionaires with property interests on the lower McCloud makes for a lot of political clout to stop any proposed dam raising. The Nature Conservancy also had a reported $30m bid on the table.
That's when Westlands stepped in and offered the Hill family $35 million no questions asked. The Hills accepted the offer knowing that Westlands would eventually try to raise the dam and flood the lower McCloud. I guess even super rich people have their price.
Westlands have been trying ever since to convince the legislature that raising Shasta dam is a good idea. More water for their almond trees and more water for LA swimming pools....oh, and to move it all you need to build a peripheral to move it all around the delta.
For some reason, the Fly Shop after years of being a leading advocate against raising Shasta Dam, took over the management of Bolibokka for Westlands. If you love the McCloud and Bolibokka, you are hastening its flooding every time you put money in Westlands' pockets when you book a trip.
Last edited by Bob Loblaw; 01-05-2015 at 03:52 PM.
You can't buy happiness, but you can buy new fly fishing gear and that usually does the trick.
Bookmarks