STORIES FROM THE WILDLANDS CONSERVANCY

Ancestral Lands Returned to the Esselen Tribe
We’re proud to announce a meaningful milestone: 1,720 acres of ancestral land along Tularcitos Creek have been returned to the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County. This deeply meaningful return reflects our commitment to true conservation through restoring land to its original stewards. With support from the California Wildlife Conservation Board and State Coastal Conservancy, this ecologically and culturally significant landscape will now be stewarded by the Esselen Tribe using traditional knowledge and practices that honor both their heritage and the natural world.

Opening New Lands to the Public, the Right Way
At The Wildlands Conservancy, we believe the best way to protect nature is to ensure people can experience it — with love, thoughtfulness, and a commitment to its long-term care.
This belief guides everything we do as we work to provide well-managed, free public access to the lands we’ve conserved. That’s why we’re preparing to open four new preserves to the public: Estero Americano Coast Preserve, Eel River Canyon Preserve, Rana Creek Preserve, and Enchanted Rocks Preserve. These extraordinary places — rugged canyons, desert mesas, quiet estuaries, and sublime interior ecosystems — have long been off-limits, but soon they’ll be open to all. As we prepare these landscapes for free access, we’re doing it the right way: with community, care, and stewardship.

Meet Kat Hardisty-Cranstone, New Preserve Manager for Rana Creek
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.