The Wildlands Conservancy

The Wildlands Conservancy

Abbreviation	TWC
Formation	1995; 30 years ago (1995)
Type	501(c)(3) non-profit
Legal status	Nonprofit organization
Purpose	Environmental conservation
Headquarters	Oak Glen, San Bernardino County, California
Region	California, Oregon, Utah
Methods	Buy land and open to public
Staff	93[1] (2023)
Volunteers	900[1] (2023)
Website	www.wildlandsconservancy.org

The Wildlands Conservancy is a nonprofit land conservancy that acquires, restores, and opens land for free public recreation and environmental education. It manages 25 preserves (see the list of preserves) totaling over 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) across the western United States, encompassing coasts, mountains and valleys, deserts, rivers, and canyons. The conservancy builds public visitor facilities and runs youth education programs;^[2] admission and programs are free of charge,^[3][2] and its sites receive over 1.5 million visits annually.^[3][4] The conservancy has stated that it seeks to acquire and permanently hold land in order to enable ecological restoration, public access, and outdoor education.^[5]

The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 established two national parks, one national preserve, and 69 wilderness areas. However, private inholdings persisted within these newly designated public lands. From 1999 to 2004, The Wildlands Conservancy undertook an extensive effort to acquire 646,000 acres of private inholdings situated within the California desert. These lands were subsequently transferred to various government agencies to be preserved.^[6][7]

From 1995 to 2000, the organization established a set of preserves in Southern California, including the San Bernardino Mountains and desert canyons. The conservancy acquired a historic trout hatchery and rehabilitated the area in 2005, resulting in the creation of the Whitewater Preserve, which provided access to the San Gorgonio Wilderness.^[3]

Starting in 2005, The Wildlands Conservancy expanded its efforts into Northern California, preserving land along the Eel River and the Sonoma Coast.^[3][8][9]

President Obama designated three national monuments in 2016: Sand to Snow National Monument, Mojave Trails National Monument, and Castle Mountains National Monument. The Sand to Snow National Monument encompassed the Whitewater Preserve and Mission Creek Preserve, and substantial land previously acquired and transferred by the conservancy contributed to the Mojave Trails National Monument.^[10][11][12]

In 2021, the conservancy acquired the 26,600-acre Eel River Canyon Preserve, which includes 18 miles of river frontage.^[13]

In 2022, the organization expanded its initiatives beyond California's borders, venturing into Oregon for the first time.^[14] In 2023, it further extended its mission to Utah through the acquisition of land at the boundary of Bears Ears National Monument.^[15]

In 2023, the conservancy purchased the 12,400-acre Rana Creek Preserve in Carmel Valley for $40 million. The acquisition, hailed as one of the year’s major conservation deals, included an agreement to return 1,720 acres to the Esselen Tribe for co-stewardship.^[16][17]

In California, the organization expanded acquisitions and restoration projects in the 2020s; some were supported by state conservation programs associated with the 30x30 conservation initiative, while others were privately funded by the conservancy.^[18][19]

The Wildlands Conservancy owns and manages 25 nature preserves across three states, totaling about 212,000 acres. In addition, it has transferred more than 500,000 acres to public agencies.

The preserves encompass a wide range of landscapes, including coasts, mountains and valleys, deserts, rivers, and canyons.

• 
  Jenner Headlands Preserve
• 
  Estero Americano Coast Preserve

The Wildlands Conservancy’s preserves span 11 World Wildlife Fund (WWF) ecoregions in California, Oregon, and Utah.

WWF ecoregion	Preserves
California Central Valley grasslands	Wind Wolves
California coastal sage and chaparral	Santa Margarita River Trail; Mariposa
California interior chaparral and woodlands	Rana Creek
California montane chaparral and woodlands	Oak Glen; Galena Peak Wilderness; Bearpaw; Bluff Lake; Wind Wolves
Colorado Plateau shrublands	Speaking Springs (Utah)
Great Basin shrub steppe	West Walker River; Two Rivers; Bodie Hills
Klamath–Siskiyou forests	Beaver Valley Headwaters; Eel River Canyon; Emerald Waters; Spyrock
Mojave Desert	Pioneertown Mountains
Northern California coastal forests	Seawood Cape; Sounding Seas Dunes; Eel River Estuary; Jenner Headlands; Estero Americano Coast
Snake–Columbia shrub steppe	Enchanted Rocks (Oregon)
Sonoran Desert	Whitewater; Mission Creek

In the 1990s, The Wildlands Conservancy acquired more than 600,000 acres of former railroad and utility lands in the California desert, one of the largest private land acquisitions for conservation in state history. Portions of these lands were subsequently donated to Joshua Tree National Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and other protected areas. Decades later, much of this landscape was included within the designations of Mojave Trails National Monument and Sand to Snow National Monument.^[20]

In Humboldt County, the organization launched the Eel River Emerald Necklace, an initiative to protect a series of preserves located a day’s rafting apart along the lower Eel River valley.^[21]

The conservancy has also been a supporter of efforts to expand the Santa Ana River Trail, working with local governments and other organizations to connect parks and open space along the river corridor.^[22]

In 2024, restoration began on the East Fork Scott River at the Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve, with the goal of improving habitat for salmon and steelhead. The project has been undertaken in partnership with the Trust for Public Land and California Trout.^[23]

In 2025, the California Coastal Commission approved the 530-acre Centerville Slough Restoration Project at the mouth of the Eel River. The project, described as the largest tidal restoration on private land along the West Coast, will restore tidal flows, support endangered salmon and steelhead, and improve habitat for shorebirds and marine mammals.^[24][25]

The Wildlands Conservancy preserves contribute to regional wildlife corridors. Several of its properties are identified in the South Coast Missing Linkages study as part of conservation linkages across Southern California.^[26]

In the Eastern Sierra, the Two Rivers Preserve lies within a mule deer migration corridor identified by Mono County planning studies.^[27] To support this connectivity, the California Department of Transportation completed two wildlife underpasses at Sonora Junction in 2024. Designed primarily to reduce vehicle collisions during seasonal deer migrations, the structures also benefit other species. The Wildlands Conservancy collaborated with Caltrans by enabling right of way near Two Rivers Preserve.^[28][29][30]

Education programs are a central part of The Wildlands Conservancy’s mission. At Wind Wolves Preserve, more than 120,000 children have participated in field trips and hands-on activities such as the “Science Sleuths” program, which teaches ecological problem-solving.^[31][32] At Oak Glen Preserve, the Botanic Garden has provided biodiversity-focused field trips for tens of thousands of students since 2014.^[33] At Whitewater Preserve, guided nature walks and interpretive programs for children highlight desert water cycles and watershed ecology.^[34]

The conservancy emphasizes free public access and outdoor education across its network of preserves.^[35]

As of 2023, the conservancy reported about 900 volunteers supporting programs and stewardship.^[1]

• Jack Thompson (The Wildlands Conservancy) (April 19, 2016). Inside the California Desert's Newest National Monuments (Video). Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory.
• "Carmel Valley's Newest Preserve and Kern County's Tule Elk". OpenRoad. Episode 92. April 7, 2024. NBC Bay Area. Retrieved May 5, 2024. OpenRoad had editorial control. The Wildlands Conservancy funded the episode.
• The Wildlands Conservancy (December 28, 2012). Behold the Beauty (1st ed.). The Wildlands Conservancy. ISBN 978-0988819702.
• The Wildlands Conservancy (2021). Behold the Beauty (2nd ed.). The Wildlands Conservancy.

• List of The Wildlands Conservancy preserves
• List of ecoregions in the United States (WWF)
• List of North American deserts

• Butterfield, Scott (2021). Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes: A California Study in Rebalancing the Needs of People and Nature. Washington, DC: Island Press. ISBN 978-1642831269.
• Penrod, Kristeen; Beier, Paul; Luke, Chris; Spencer, William; Cabañas, Carolyn (2003). South Coast Missing Linkages: A Wildland Network for the South Coast Ecoregion (PDF) (Report). South Coast Wildlands Project.
• Ritter, Matt (2018). California Plants: A Guide to Our Iconic Flora. San Luis Obispo, California: Pacific Street Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9998960-0-6.
• Yaffee, Steven L.; Schueller, Sheila K.; Wondolleck, Julia M. (April 15, 2009). Preserving Wild California: An External Assessment (PDF) (Report). Resources Legacy Fund Foundation.

• Official website
• ParkInfo