Banning Ranch is located along the Santa Ana River where it meets the ocean.

Banning Ranch is a 401-acre area of wetlands and coastal bluffs in West Newport Beach where the Santa Ana River meets the Pacific Ocean.  It is the last large parcel of unprotected coastal open space remaining in Southern California, and is the central element of the proposed Orange Coast River Park, which, when realized, will achieve a significant linkage of open spaces and wetlands.  Banning Ranch supports a mix of coastal wetland, riparian woodland, coastal bluff sagescrub, shortgrass grassland, and vernal pool communities that are without parallel anywhere in Orange County.

At least six wildlife species listed as threatened or endangered have been documented on Banning Ranch: San Diego Fairy Shrimp, Light-footed Clapper Rail, American Peregrine Falcon, Least Bell’s Vireo, California Gnatcatcher and Belding’s Savannah Sparrow. In an era where nearly all remaining privately owned open space in Orange County is being developed, Banning Ranch is truly a gem and deserving of being called “Nature’s last stand.”

A Look Back As We Head Into the Future

We give thanks to the many board members and key staff that helped get the Banning Ranch Conservancy to where it is today! Read the monthly e-newsletter of the Banning Ranch Conservancy covering: a new board member, the Sept. 17th Coastal Clean Up, and the oil remediation process.

View the E-Newsletter

Public Testimony for the
Preservation of Banning Ranch

If you would like to hear some of the speeches by acquisition leaders, click on the links to download the media file.

• Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (read by District Director Michael Tou)
• Supervisor Katrina Foley
• Supervisor Lisa Bartlett (read by Paolo Perrone)
• Melanie Schlotterbeck, BRC Executive Director
• Terry M. Welsh, M.D., BRC Board President

Wildlife Conservation Board Fully Funds Acquisition

View the joint press release issued by The Trust for Public Land and the Banning Ranch Conservancy announcing the Banning Ranch acquisition is fully funded. View the Press Release >>

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