Our Mission
To preserve the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and to provide programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature.
The Preserve System
Our growing preserve system safeguards forests, deserts, mountains, rivers, and coastlines through permanent land conservation and active stewardship.
Conservation Projects
Beyond our preserves, we lead and support conservation initiatives that protect connected landscapes, wildlife corridors, rivers, and public lands.
AP Ranch Acquisition
This 14,177-acre acquisition in Siskiyou County, CA will expand Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve to more than 20,000 acres.
Wild Cherry Canyon
More than 2,000 acres on California's central coast in San Luis Obispo County.
All Acquisition Projects
Explore our current land acquisition projects and learn how you can help conserve land for future generations.
Rewilding Nature
Across the West, rivers have been dammed and diverted, wildlife corridors severed, and native species pushed to the brink. Explore our work to restore wildness and ecological balance.
Visit a Preserve
Our preserve system welcomes more than 1.5 million visitors each year to protected forests, deserts, mountains, rivers, wetlands, and coastlines across California and Utah, with preserves and programs open to the public free of charge.
Community Programs & Events
From guided hikes to photography workshops to summer activities for kids, The Wildlands Conservancy's free community programs & events offer something for everyone.
School Field Trips
Free field-trip programs give students hands-on outdoor learning experiences that foster curiosity, scientific discovery, and a deeper connection to the natural world.
About The Wildlands Conservancy
About Us
Our Core Principles & Beliefs
Meet Our Team
Our Financials
The financial information provided here is derived from our audited financial statements.
Rana Creek Preserve
With its iconic California oak woodland landscape, a journey through Rana Creek Preserve is like going back in time before highway traffic, strip malls, and power lines marred coastal California.
Wind Wolves Preserve
Wind Wolves Preserve is in an ecologically unique region where the Transverse Ranges, Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, western Mojave Desert and San Joaquin Valley influences converge.
Mission Creek Preserve
Located in a transition zone between the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, the 4,760-acre Mission Creek Preserve has a rich species composition with flora and fauna representing both deserts.
Pioneertown Mountains Preserve
The 25,500-acre Pioneertown Mountains Preserve descends from the high piney 7,800-foot ridges into the Pioneertown Valley.
Whitewater Preserve
Whitewater Preserve is 2,246 acres surrounded by the Bureau of Land Management’s San Gorgonio Wilderness and includes the year-round Whitewater River.
Two Rivers Preserve
Two Rivers Preserve is an awe-inspiring landscape within an ancient volcanic caldera full of glacial moraines, river-carved canyons, mountain meadows, and grand vistas of the Sierra Nevada and Sweetwater Mountains.
West Walker River Preserve
Situated in the Antelope Valley farming community, just off highway 395 in the Eastern Serra town of Coleville
Eel River Canyon Preserve
Given its location along the Grand Canyon of the Eel river, where the National Wild and Scenic Eel River carves its way through a deep and wild gorge
Emerald Waters Reserve
The 3,036-acre Emerald Waters Reserve is split between Humboldt and Trinity Counties and fronts on the Eel River for 4.5 miles.
Spyrock Reserve
The 5,832-acre Spyrock Reserve has five miles of frontage on the National Wild and Scenic Eel River in Mendocino County.
Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve
The 6,094-acre Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve in Siskiyou County protects two-and-a-half miles of the East Fork Scott River, providing habitats for Coho salmon, king salmon, and steelhead trout.
Eel River Estuary Preserve & Sounding Seas Dunes Reserve
The southern estuary of the Eel River in Humboldt County contains a diverse array of habitats and a grand arena of life
Seawood Cape Preserve
Seawood Cape encompasses 128 acres including almost a mile of California’s world famous rugged rocky coastline that is replete with barking sea lions and basking harbor seals.
Bearpaw Reserve
Bearpaw Reserve is 600 acres of steep, spectacular mountains with a seasonal 110-foot waterfall. Vegetation includes incense cedars, ponderosa and coulter pine, chaparral, and oracle oaks.
Bluff Lake Reserve
Located at 7,600 feet, Bluff Lake Reserve has towering pines, a 20-acre lake, a meadow, and majestic outcrops of quartz monzonite.
Galena Peak Wilderness Reserve
In 2018, The Wildlands Conservancy separated the 1,280-acre Galena Ridge from its Oak Glen Preserve, positioning this rugged rocky landscape to be managed like the adjoining San Gorgonio Wilderness.
Oak Glen Preserve
Nestled in a glen, situated at 5,024 feet, in the shadow of 8,700-foot Wilshire Peak, lies The Wildlands Conservancy’s 909-acre Oak Glen Preserve.
Estero Americano Coast Preserve
Acquired by The Wildlands Conservancy in 2015 through a visionary public-private partnership—including the State Coastal Conservancy, Sonoma County Ag + Open Space, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Sonoma Land Trust, and individual donors.
Jenner Headlands Preserve
Jenner Headlands is a spectacular 5,630-acre mosaic of redwood and Douglas-fir forests, oak woodland, chaparral and coastal prairie overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Mariposa Reserve
The 800-acre Mariposa Reserve is a habitat reserve surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest. It represents the best grassland and sycamore savanna in the north end of the forest.
Santa Margarita River Trail Preserve
In 2018, The Wildlands Conservancy acquired five miles of the oak- and sycamore-shaded Santa Margarita River, one of the last free-flowing wild rivers in Southern California and the southernmost range of steelhead trout.
Enchanted Rocks Preserve
Thousand-foot-high cliffs splashed with orange, white, purple, and red tower above the John Day River as it winds through iconic landscapes graced with western junipers, herds of Rocky Mountain elk, and the verdant canyons of its many tributaries.
Speaking Springs Preserve
Cottonwood Wash carves an ancient, 42-mile pathway from the towering Abajo Mountains to the historic San Juan River.
Explore the Preserve System Map
Use our interactive map to plan your next preserve visit.
Explore Free Programs
Find free programs near you. From guided hikes to workshops, we offer something for everyone.
Donate Online
Our mission: To preserve the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and to provide programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature. Together, we can protect the land, heal the wild, and keep nature free for everyone.
Donate
All the Ways to Give
Since 1995, the generosity of The Wildlands Conservancy’s supporters has enabled us to call people back to the beauty, wonder, and inspiration of the natural world through outdoor education and the stewardship of some of California’s most remarkable and important landscapes.
Volunteer
Whether your passion is restoration or outdoor education, or you have a day to spare or a few hours a week, there’s a volunteer opportunity available for you to get involved and make a difference not just at your favorite preserve, but in your community.
Career Opportunities
Looking to join our team? Explore current opportunities with The Wildlands Conservancy.
A New Future for a Central Coast Gem
After decades of work to protect Wild Cherry Canyon, its future is finally coming into focus.
On September 17, 2026, the California State Coastal Conservancy authorized $42 million to The Wildlands Conservancy to acquire the leasehold and fee title to approximately 2,060 acres of Wild Cherry Canyon.
This extraordinary public investment creates a path to permanently protect one of the last great undeveloped landscapes along California’s Central Coast and establish it as a Wildlands nature preserve.
For generations, people have fought to keep this landscape from being lost to development. Now, Wildlands has the opportunity to carry that work forward, protecting Wild Cherry Canyon forever while restoring its wildness and opening a new chapter centered on conservation, Tribal access and stewardship, and free public access.
Make an Impact
Acquisition is Just the Beginning
Wildlands is now raising philanthropic support to launch startup stewardship, begin restoration and rewilding, prepare for thoughtful public and Tribal access, and build a permanent stewardship endowment so Wild Cherry Canyon can be cared for in perpetuity.
Protecting Wild Cherry Canyon is a historic achievement. Caring for it forever is the promise that comes next.
What’s Next
From Protection to Preserve
Wildlands will work with the State Coastal Conservancy, Tribal bands with interests in the land and its stewardship, conservation partners and the local community to shape the future of Wild Cherry Canyon. Planning will consider ecological restoration and rewilding, Tribal access and stewardship, outdoor education, and thoughtful free public access, including the potential for a five-mile segment of the California Coastal Trail.
Our responsibility is not simply to save this land from development. It is to help Wild Cherry Canyon become wilder, healthier and more deeply connected to the people who will care for it for generations.
A Landscape of Exceptional Beauty
Rising above Avila Beach and San Luis Bay, Wild Cherry Canyon encompasses 2,200 acres of rolling coastal hills, ancient coast live oak woodlands, native grasslands, chaparral, and winding riparian corridors. Sweeping views extend across the Pacific Ocean while sheltered canyons and headwater streams provide refuge for native wildlife and some of California’s most imperiled species.
Recognized as a conservation priority for more than two decades, the property supports an extraordinary diversity of life. California red-legged frogs inhabit its watersheds, Indian Knob mountainbalm grows among its serpentine soils, golden eagles and peregrine falcons soar overhead, and mountain lions move through the broader landscape. Together, these habitats form an important part of the approximately 12,000-acre Diablo Canyon landscape and a vital wildlife corridor along California’s Central Coast.
Support for Conservation, Permanent Stewardship, and Public Access
California State Senator John Laird has long championed the protection of these lands, and together with Assemblymember Dawn Addis helped secure essential state funding that made this conservation opportunity possible.
“This has been more than 25 years in the making. I worked to protect Wild Cherry Canyon as California’s Natural Resources Secretary, and many others worked on it before and since. There were plenty of times when it looked like it might not happen, but the Central Coast community never gave up. I’m grateful to the Coastal Conservancy, The Wildlands Conservancy, tribal partners and everyone who stuck with this effort over the years to help protect Wild Cherry Canyon for generations to come.” California State Senator John Laird
The Wildlands Conservancy is honored to help carry that vision forward alongside the many partners who have worked toward this milestone.
Through the Diablo Canyon Lands Planning Process which brings together community advocates, local Tribes, conservation organizations, public agencies, and elected officials we are certain a shared vision for permanent conservation and stewardship of the natural and cultural values of these lands will emerge.
San Luis Obispo County, CA
