If you receive this newsletter, you have probably been welcomed with a smile to one of our 22 magnificent preserves and reserves, or you have joined our free Behold the Beauty Association. Our protected lands now range from Seawood Cape Preserve on the North Coast, to the largest undammed river at Santa Margarita River Trail Preserve on the South Coast, to the flower-permeated Southern California Montane Botanic Garden at Oak Glen Preserve, to the glistening trout-filled waters of Two Rivers Reserve in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

After a two-and-a-half-year effort, with support from private donors, volunteers, state agencies, partner organizations, and elected leaders The Wildlands Conservancy is proud to announce it has secured the 26,600-acre Lone Pine Ranch along 18 miles of the National Wild and Scenic Eel River. 

Over the years, The Wildlands Conservancy’s Outdoor Education programs at its keystone preserves—Whitewater, Oak Glen, and Wind Wolves—have grown and evolved to better serve local communities and provide even more opportunity for “children to know the wonder and joy of nature.”

Whitewater Preserve has faced particular challenges in providing free outdoor education to students, families, and individuals in the Coachella Valley. Despite closures due to natural disasters—a major flood in 2019, and the Water Fire in 2020—and the Covid-19 pandemic, the outdoor education team at Whitewater continued to develop programs in an uncertain environment.

In 1998, The Wildlands Conservancy signed an agreement with the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to relocate tule elk to our Wind Wolves Preserve. The Preserve is the southernmost extension of tule elk’s historic range before they were decimated by the California Gold Rush and the agricultural land rush that soon followed. Thought to be extinct, six elk survived under the protection and foresight of Henry Miller, a rancher. By 1998, California’s indigenous tule elk had rebounded to over 3,100 elk, and DFG projected the tule elk population would increase significantly on Wind Wolves Preserve’s 93,000 acres of prime habitat. 

When The Wildlands Conservancy saved historic Los Rios Rancho-from development in 1996, we envisioned creating a special place where people could connect with each other and nature in a meaningful way. Today, Oak Glen Preserve, home of the Southern California Montane Botanic Garden and Children’s Outdoor Discovery Center, is that vision come to life. Each year hundreds of thousands of visitors walk the trails through more than a dozen botanic garden venues, each representing a unique native habitat, and each providing an engaging interpretive experience for kids of all ages.

California’s coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, have been in a serious state of decline since the mid 20th Century. Factors such as habitat loss, hatchery genetics, overexploitation, and climate change are the leading causes of their diminishment.  The extreme droughts experienced in the last decade mean critical action must be immediately taken. By focusing efforts on key coho locations there is still hope for this iconic California fish.

Pioneertown was named after a row of wood façade-fronted buildings on “Mane Street,” built in 1946 for filming western movies. When the Pioneertown film corporation defaulted on a loan, 10,000 acres of spectacular rock formations, volcanic mesas, pinyon pine-forested mountains and Joshua tree-covered flats, were foreclosed on by the owners of two Los Angeles car dealerships. The heart of this 10,000 acres was Pipes Canyon, a rare water-blessed canyon on the edge of the Mojave Desert.

The Wildlands Conservancy’s visitorship is at the heart of its mission. Each year, more than 1.6 million people visit one, or more, of Wildlands’ 22 diverse preserves and reserves – completely free of charge. From California’s rugged coast to its quiet forests and pristine deserts, visitors – like you – are inspired by these iconic landscapes. We, in turn, are inspired by you. Thank you for being a part of our work.