The plan to preserve Banning Ranch a current oil production area in to a huge public park and reserve has gotten a boost from US Fish & Wildlife that has donated money to the plan. The US Fish & Wildlife has donated $11 million towards the $97 million goal which now means the total sits at $83 million raised towards the purchase of the land.
The 400 acre parcel consists of coastal mesa as well as lowland wetlands and is the remaining part of what at one time was a much larger Banning Ranch. The land has been used since the 1940’s for oil production but today is 80 percent abandoned.
The land at the mouth of the Santa Ana Rivera’s prime land bordering Newport Beach and Costa Mesa with the current owners proposing a large residential and commercial project on the site, hopefully the goal is met and this space can be preserved for future generations.
Courtesy of Newport Beach Insider