Earlier this month, the California Wildlife Conservation Board approved a grant to purchase conservation easements on 62,000 acres of Tejon Ranch land. The $15.8 million state grant will transfer Tejon Ranch, the largest continuous block of privately owned land, into a public preserve and will become one of the biggest conservation easements in California’s history. Tejon Ranch is a distinctly unique place where the Coastal Range, Central Valley, Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave Desert all come together and is the crossroad for a myriad of plants and wildlife species.

The Planning and Conservation League, along with the Audubon Society, Endangered Habitats League, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club coordinated the agreement to preserve ninety percent of Tejon Ranch. The land boasts one-third of California’s oak species, many threatened and endangered species and 5,000 acres of roadless wilderness. The 62,000 acres of land were previously intended for development by the Tejon Ranch Company. The conservation easements will prevent future development of the land and give the Tejon Ranch Conservancy the authority and capital to protect this rare gem in California’s landscape for future generations to come.