YORKVILLE, Calif. (AP) - The family of a prominent San Francisco insurance executive has donated a rugged wilderness tract in southern Mendocino County to Sonoma State University, the university announced.

The 3,500-acre wildlife preserve, valued at more than $8 million, was donated by the family of Fred B. Galbreath, a marine insurance executive who once served as lead underwriter for construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. Galbreath, who died in 2000 at age 98, was an avid outdoorsman who often said the Mendocino County property should be donated to the cause of higher education.

Roughly the size of a state park, the donated area is home to bears, mountain lions and other wildlife. It will be one of the largest preserves in California's college and university system, authorities said.

The university's School of Science and Technology will operate the preserve as a laboratory for biologists, geologists, geographers and astronomers. Eventually, the university hopes to establish a biological field station, a conference and retreat center and an observatory.