Bearpaw Reserve features nearly 600 acres of steep, spectacular mountains with a seasonal 110-foot waterfall. Vegetation includes incense cedars, ponderosa and coulter pine, chaparral, and oracle oaks—a rare hybrid between black oaks and interior live oaks. In 2020, this landscape and its diverse species were severely impacted by the devastating El Dorado fire.

“The preserve is a place for learning, but also a place to feel peace. It’s a refuge.” - Gary Peplow

Gary and Rebecca Peplow, retired school teachers, volunteer as education docents for The Wildlands Conservancy at Oak Glen Preserve. Rebecca and Gary have a long history of enjoying the trails at Oak Glen Preserve, dating all the way back to 1997 when they would bring their own children to the preserve to hike the trails and enjoy being out in nature as a family…

In 2021, The Wildlands Conservancy purchased the 6,094-acre Hayden Ranch, encompassing 6.7 miles of coho critical habitat. Now called the Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve, the property contains three tributary confluences to the East Fork Scott River, all within two miles, with habitat that benefits coho in various life stages. Recognizing the statewide leadership of California Trout to save fish, Wildlands welcomed an opportunity to partner together on a restorative journey to recover coho salmon at the Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve.

A native to California, Kat has a deep respect and reverence for nature. Originally from San Diego, Kat studied fish, wildlife, and conservation biology at Colorado State University. Before attending university, she always dreamt of becoming a large animal veterinarian. However, through her ecology studies, she came to understand the connection between habitat degradation and animal extinction, a significant realization that altered her life path. “If I can restore the habitat, then the animals can restore themselves,” Kat says.

As many know, California saw profound impacts from Hurricane Hillary and The Wildlands Conservancy’s California Desert Preserves were no exception. As we rebuild, we are provided with an opportunity to reflect on the incredible resilience the preserves have shown in over two decades of fires, floods and a global pandemic. It is clearer now more than ever that our resilience is a direct reflection of the love we all share for these wonderful places and our dedication to sharing them with those that need them most.

While the term “rewilding” is growing in popularity, it’s not a novel concept at The Wildlands Conservancy. Our latest success is unfolding at Bluff Lake Reserve where we’ve reintroduced two critically endangered species, the unarmored three-spine stickelback and the mountain yellow-legged frog, revitalizing the hope of a future for these creatures.

Gazing up from Cottonwood Wash, multi-hued sandstone walls, frozen red and white rainbow layers, patinated with desert varnish, seize your attention, drawing your eyes as they rise hundreds of feet to where they suddenly meet impossibly blue skies. Wind and water, working together with time, have sculpted dizzying heights, angular features, and sheer surfaces.

“This is the best day ever!” A child shouts with joy as they return to the school bus after a long day of adventure on the trails.

Nearly every day during the school year you can visit Oak Glen, Whitewater, or Wind Wolves Preserve and be met with similar exclamations, with the sight of small groups of excited children, energy barely contained by their teachers and chaperones, gathered around a naturalist or docent who is guiding their exploration of the natural world. For many, our free Outdoor Discovery Program is their first experience connecting with nature that is not their own backyard or neighborhood park.

Dan DeKimpe embraces The Wildlands Conservancy mission to create access to nature through his funding of important public access projects each year. To ramp up his giving and really “move the needle,” he set a goal of 25x25: funding 25 projects by 2025.

The Wildlands Conservancy’s Experimental Oak Woodlands Preservation Project is a statewide Climate Action designed to address the decline of multiple oak species throughout all or a significant portion of their ranges because of land development, overgrazing, wildfires, non-native invasive species, oak pathogens, prolonged drought, and other impacts associated with climate change.

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.

When The Wildlands Conservancy purchases a new preserve we look for “destination properties”—properties that you, our visitors, are naturally drawn to. One of the reasons 1.6 million visitors a year are drawn to our 21 preserves is because each of them has the soothing and inspirational draw of beautiful waters.

The Wildlands Conservancy has five preserves on the coast, where our visitors are invigorated by the thunderclap of waves, being splashed by the rolling tides, sharing the palm-tickle of a sand crab with their children, watching barking sea lions, or swimming, fishing, and surfing in the world’s largest ocean—the Pacific. Seven preserves are on major rivers; five where you can enjoy summer days swimming, fishing, kayaking, or wading in the Earth's refreshing waters. Seven other preserves have musical streams that guide your thoughts to a blissful place—if you stop to listen. Two reserves—Bearpaw and Mariposa—have over 100-foot-tall seasonal spring waterfalls.

Stretching along 18.5 miles of the Wild and Scenic Eel River in northern California and encompassing nearly 30,000 acres, the Lone Pine Ranch will provide new access to the future Great Redwood Trail, wild river frontage, and host a variety of passive recreation opportunities.

Dotted with freshwater wetlands, deep forests, two herds of Roosevelt Elk, and splendid seasonal wildflower blooms, protection of this landscape will advance our vision of an Eel River Emerald Necklace—a string of Preserves along the river that protect and provide access to the region.