SANTA ANA RIVER TRAIL AND PARKWAY

Cities throughout America are re-establishing a connection to their sometimes channeled and often dewatered urban rivers. In 1998, The Wildlands Conservancy started promoting a Santa Ana River Renaissance, reviving the vision of a continuous 110-mile trail from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Although constant urban growth and encroachment have diminished the breadth and flow of the river, through time, countless individuals and dedicated groups continued to advance the river trail. The Santa Ana River Renaissance enlarged the tri-county trail concept into a tri-county natural habitat and open space parkway project.

The Santa Ana River passes through the urban core of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Via the bike path, the adjoining national forests, state, county and municipal parks and the Pacific Ocean are becoming readily accessible to urban residents, bringing nature into the lives of urban youth. The Wildlands Conservancy has spent tens of millions of dollars in this watershed for habitat acquisition, visitor facilities, outdoor education, trail planning and construction, fostering a strong partnership with the three counties and 10 cities. Wildlands gave grants to most of these cities to create a vision document for the river.

In 2006, elected officials from the cities and counties formalized this relationship by forming the Santa Ana River Trail and Parkway Policy Advisory Committee with The Wildlands Conservancy as a voting member. Working together, the Policy Advisory Committee was able to earmark $61 million out of voter-approved Resource Bond Propositions for the tri-county Santa Ana River Trail and Parkway. Through legislation, protecting the river’s habitat and expanding its adjoining open space became a project of the California Coastal Conservancy.