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Nature Conservancy Acquires Key Parcel of Historic Santa Ysabel

Purchase Launches Large-Scale Conservation Project in Eastern San Diego County

San Diego, CA — October 19, 1999 — The Nature Conservancy, the world's leading conservation organization, announced today that it has closed escrow on a 1,512-acre parcel of ranchland near Julian in eastern San Diego County. Called Santa Ysabel West, the property is an important first acquisition of the Conservancy's new Eastern San Diego Mountains Project, according to Bill Leahy, Southern California area director for The Nature Conservancy of California.

The non-profit Conservancy purchased Santa Ysabel West for $3 million. Part of the historic Santa Ysabel Ranch, an old Spanish land grant, the property was purchased from Mary Lou and Tom Edwards of Yuma. According to Broker Kevin Knowles of Agate Land and Water, who represented the sellers, the land has been in the Edwards family for several generations and the sellers wanted the property protected as open space.

The parcel represents a strategic location, according to Leahy, which makes it an ideal first acquisition for the Eastern San Diego Mountains Project. In addition to its tremendous diversity of native habitats, he said, the project is a conservation priority because it provides a potential link between the endangered coastal sage scrub ecosystems to the west and the unique desert lands to the east. The new conservation project will preserve the area's natural values by establishing a network of protected private lands, linkages to public lands and buffer zones where traditional rural land uses like ranching are maintained, he said.

"It is beautiful land, with Engelmann and coast live oak woodlands, native grasslands, wildflower fields and seasonal wetlands. Because of its very visible frontage on Highway 78, it could have been a prime target for development," according to Leahy.

San Diego County contains more biological diversity and more unique and imperiled species than any other county in the continental United States. A scientific survey of the entire South Coast ecoregion revealed that seven of 16 sites deemed high priorities for conservation are located in the Eastern San Diego County Mountains Project, which spans an area of roughly 410,000 acres or 640-square miles. The area's diverse natural communities harbor 74 threatened and globally unique plant and animal species such as valley needlegrass, southwestern willow flycatcher, burrowing owl, long-eared owl, California red-legged frog, southwestern pond turtle, two-striped garter snake and many migratory songbirds.

Leahy said the Conservancy will explore a number of different options to ensure long-term conservation of the property. These may include reselling part of the property to private interests willing to accept the land subject to a "conservation easement." The easement establishes permanent protection for the land's natural resource values while allowing some forms of carefully prescribed human uses such as limited cattle ranching, recreation and other forms of compatible development. According to Leahy, this acquisition is the first of two closely-related land deals. The Conservancy has an option to buy a nearby parcel called Santa Ysabel East that also belongs to the Edwards family. Comprising 3,890 acres, the land has been optioned by the Conservancy, which must raise the necessary funds to acquire the property by June, 2000.

"We have a brief window of opportunity to safeguard the finest natural landscapes and habitat areas before it's too late," Leahy said. "There is a rich concentration of irreplaceable and imperiled natural systems here. Maintaining the open and natural character of just a few parcels currently under private ownership will secure not only unique and threatened woodlands, wetlands and grasslands, but also will close critical gaps between existing public holdings."

Between 1995 and 2015, the population of rural unincorporated areas of San Diego County is expected to increase by 81 percent. Given this trend, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) forecasts that 37,000 acres of land will be converted to residential development during that period. According to Leahy, this projection underscores the magnitude of habitat fragmentation likely to occur if conservationists do nothing. The area is a priority target for conservation because population growth, migration from metropolitan San Diego, a booming regional economy and the declining profitability of ranching are putting pressures on the area's privately-owned natural landscapes.

Unlike the fragmented land ownership pattern in the western part of the county, Leahy said, eastern San Diego County is an uninterrupted landscape dominated by large private ranches interspersed among national forests, state parks, county holdings and Indian reservations. Leahy explained that The Nature Conservancy concentrates on safeguarding large areas and linking them to other protected areas in order for native animals, especially large mammals such as mule deer and mountain lions, to migrate. Migration is essential to maintaining a healthy diversity in the animals' gene pools, thus enhancing their species' chances of long-term survival. "By preserving their habitats and linking those areas to other habitats, the Conservancy tries to ensure that native species are well-enough protected that they will not become endangered," he said.

According to Leahy, the Nature Conservancy takes a balanced approach that provides for human needs, including a healthy economy and residential development, while protecting native animals and plants by safeguarding the most critical lands and waters that make up their habitats. The Conservancy bases its activities on sound science, strives for consensus, and concentrates on achieving positive results on the largest possible scale through the use of non-confrontational, market-based economic solutions that protect critical habitat — a "win-win" approach for conservation and the economy.

For more information on the Santa Ysabel West project, the Eastern San Diego Mountains Project or to make a contribution to The Nature Conservancy, write: 1400 Quail Street, Suite 130, Newport Beach, CA 92660; e-mail bleahy@tnc.org or call (949) 263-0933.