Our Mission
To preserve the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and to provide programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature.
The Preserve System
Our growing preserve system safeguards forests, deserts, mountains, rivers, and coastlines through permanent land conservation and active stewardship.
Conservation Projects
Beyond our preserves, we lead and support conservation initiatives that protect connected landscapes, wildlife corridors, rivers, and public lands.
AP Ranch Acquisition
This 14,177-acre acquisition in Siskiyou County, CA will expand Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve to more than 20,000 acres.
Wild Cherry Canyon
More than 2,000 acres on California's central coast in San Luis Obispo County.
All Acquisition Projects
Explore our current land acquisition projects and learn how you can help conserve land for future generations.
Rewilding Nature
Across the West, rivers have been dammed and diverted, wildlife corridors severed, and native species pushed to the brink. Explore our work to restore wildness and ecological balance.
Visit a Preserve
Our preserve system welcomes more than 1.5 million visitors each year to protected forests, deserts, mountains, rivers, wetlands, and coastlines across California and Utah, with preserves and programs open to the public free of charge.
Community Programs & Events
From guided hikes to photography workshops to summer activities for kids, The Wildlands Conservancy's free community programs & events offer something for everyone.
School Field Trips
Free field-trip programs give students hands-on outdoor learning experiences that foster curiosity, scientific discovery, and a deeper connection to the natural world.
About The Wildlands Conservancy
About Us
Our Core Principles & Beliefs
Meet Our Team
Career Opportunities
Join the Wildlands team.
Our Financials
The financial information provided here is derived from our audited financial statements.
Rana Creek Preserve
With its iconic California oak woodland landscape, a journey through Rana Creek Preserve is like going back in time before highway traffic, strip malls, and power lines marred coastal California.
Wind Wolves Preserve
Wind Wolves Preserve is in an ecologically unique region where the Transverse Ranges, Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, western Mojave Desert and San Joaquin Valley influences converge.
Mission Creek Preserve
Located in a transition zone between the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, the 4,760-acre Mission Creek Preserve has a rich species composition with flora and fauna representing both deserts.
Pioneertown Mountains Preserve
The 25,500-acre Pioneertown Mountains Preserve descends from the high piney 7,800-foot ridges into the Pioneertown Valley.
Whitewater Preserve
Whitewater Preserve is 2,246 acres surrounded by the Bureau of Land Management’s San Gorgonio Wilderness and includes the year-round Whitewater River.
Two Rivers Preserve
Two Rivers Preserve is an awe-inspiring landscape within an ancient volcanic caldera full of glacial moraines, river-carved canyons, mountain meadows, and grand vistas of the Sierra Nevada and Sweetwater Mountains.
West Walker River Preserve
Situated in the Antelope Valley farming community, just off highway 395 in the Eastern Serra town of Coleville
Eel River Canyon Preserve
Given its location along the Grand Canyon of the Eel river, where the National Wild and Scenic Eel River carves its way through a deep and wild gorge
Emerald Waters Reserve
The 3,036-acre Emerald Waters Reserve is split between Humboldt and Trinity Counties and fronts on the Eel River for 4.5 miles.
Spyrock Reserve
The 5,832-acre Spyrock Reserve has five miles of frontage on the National Wild and Scenic Eel River in Mendocino County.
Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve
The 6,094-acre Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve in Siskiyou County protects two-and-a-half miles of the East Fork Scott River, providing habitats for Coho salmon, king salmon, and steelhead trout.
Eel River Estuary Preserve & Sounding Seas Dunes Reserve
The southern estuary of the Eel River in Humboldt County contains a diverse array of habitats and a grand arena of life
Seawood Cape Preserve
Seawood Cape encompasses 128 acres including almost a mile of California’s world famous rugged rocky coastline that is replete with barking sea lions and basking harbor seals.
Bearpaw Reserve
Bearpaw Reserve is 600 acres of steep, spectacular mountains with a seasonal 110-foot waterfall. Vegetation includes incense cedars, ponderosa and coulter pine, chaparral, and oracle oaks.
Bluff Lake Reserve
Located at 7,600 feet, Bluff Lake Reserve has towering pines, a 20-acre lake, a meadow, and majestic outcrops of quartz monzonite.
Galena Peak Wilderness Reserve
In 2018, The Wildlands Conservancy separated the 1,280-acre Galena Ridge from its Oak Glen Preserve, positioning this rugged rocky landscape to be managed like the adjoining San Gorgonio Wilderness.
Oak Glen Preserve
Nestled in a glen, situated at 5,024 feet, in the shadow of 8,700-foot Wilshire Peak, lies The Wildlands Conservancy’s 909-acre Oak Glen Preserve.
Estero Americano Coast Preserve
Acquired by The Wildlands Conservancy in 2015 through a visionary public-private partnership—including the State Coastal Conservancy, Sonoma County Ag + Open Space, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Sonoma Land Trust, and individual donors.
Jenner Headlands Preserve
Jenner Headlands is a spectacular 5,630-acre mosaic of redwood and Douglas-fir forests, oak woodland, chaparral and coastal prairie overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Mariposa Reserve
The 800-acre Mariposa Reserve is a habitat reserve surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest. It represents the best grassland and sycamore savanna in the north end of the forest.
Santa Margarita River Trail Preserve
In 2018, The Wildlands Conservancy acquired five miles of the oak- and sycamore-shaded Santa Margarita River, one of the last free-flowing wild rivers in Southern California and the southernmost range of steelhead trout.
Enchanted Rocks Preserve
Thousand-foot-high cliffs splashed with orange, white, purple, and red tower above the John Day River as it winds through iconic landscapes graced with western junipers, herds of Rocky Mountain elk, and the verdant canyons of its many tributaries.
Speaking Springs Preserve
Cottonwood Wash carves an ancient, 42-mile pathway from the towering Abajo Mountains to the historic San Juan River.
Explore the Preserve System Map
Use our interactive map to plan your next preserve visit.
Explore Free Programs
Find free programs near you. From guided hikes to workshops, we offer something for everyone.
Donate Online
Our mission: To preserve the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and to provide programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature. Together, we can protect the land, heal the wild, and keep nature free for everyone.
Donate
All the Ways to Give
Since 1995, the generosity of The Wildlands Conservancy’s supporters has enabled us to call people back to the beauty, wonder, and inspiration of the natural world through outdoor education and the stewardship of some of California’s most remarkable and important landscapes.
Volunteer
Whether your passion is restoration or outdoor education, or you have a day to spare or a few hours a week, there’s a volunteer opportunity available for you to get involved and make a difference not just at your favorite preserve, but in your community.
Get News & Stories
From land acquisitions to rewilding projects to a child's first time in the wild — we share the work when there's something worth sharing. Join the Mailing List to get updates.
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Career Opportunities
Looking to join our team? Explore current opportunities with The Wildlands Conservancy.
Eel River Canyon
Given its location along the Grand Canyon of the Eel river, where the National Wild and Scenic Eel River carves its way through a deep and wild gorge, the Preserve provides a strategic access point to the envisioned 320-mile Great Redwood Trail along the former line of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and the River itself.
The Eel River Canyon Preserve protects over 18 miles of river frontage, including 3 miles along the North Fork of the Eel River and its confluence with the main stem. Purchased during World War II by Dean Witter, the Witter family diligently cared for the land for over 80 years, leaving a legacy of protection, which will continue under Wildlands’ stewardship.
The diverse forests on the property include buckeye, big leaf maple, ponderosa pine, Pacific yew, Oregon white oak, Douglas fir, and madrone, which sequester tens of thousands of metric tonnes of carbon dioxide and are habitat for wildlife like the Pacific Fisher and ringtail cat. Freshwater creeks provide habitat for steelhead trout and salmon, while the perennial wetlands and vernal pools that dot the property provide habitat for foothill yellow-legged frogs and Pacific pond turtles. The rolling ridgelines produce spectacular wildflower displays and are excellent foraging areas for a variety of raptors including Northern Goshawk. Two herds of Roosevelt elk roam the property, the most southwesterly extent of their range.
Future Public Access
Over the next year, The Wildlands Conservancy will plan and fundraise for a ranger station, a group campground, and updates to the Witter Lodge to safely host free public access, while completing planning for ecological restoration projects to better protect wetlands and heal logged forests.
The Preserve’s well-maintained roads will provide the initial trail system, while the preserve itself will anchor and provide access to the Great Redwood Trail.
Partnerships for outdoor education, conservation projects, and cultural resource management are being formed to foster access to the Preserve from diverse communities.
The Acquisition
The first phase of the acquisition was of the White Ranch, now our Emerald Waters Reserve, in late 2019, which secured a two-year window for The Wildlands Conservancy to raise $25 million dollars for the purchase of the crown jewel of the Grand Canyon of the Eel River—the 26,600-acre Dean Witter’s Lone Pine Ranch.
During the second phase, The Wildlands Conservancy was able to raise $18 million via the California State Coastal Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Board, and Center for Biological Diversity inside the two-year window, leaving a funding shortfall of nearly $7.5 million when the option expired in October 2021. California Senator Mike McGuire, a resolute champion for the Eel River, was critical in helping to secure this support.
CONSERVATION OUTCOMES
The Eel River Canyon Preserve is among the largest contiguous pieces of land left under a single ownership in Northern California.
Except for a few committed ranching families, much of the surrounding lands are being carved up for cannabis production. Preventing the parceling of these large ranches is important for wildlife corridors and landscape linkages for the region’s robust wildlife.
Ecological restoration and forest health initiatives will protect water resources and increase species resilience under a changing climate. The implementation of shaded fuel breaks along key ridgelines on the Preserve will protect tens of thousands of metric tonnes of carbon sequestered in mixed forests from wildfire.
Public access to the Eel River and Great Redwood Trail will inspire a new generation of supporters and advocates for the river, its biological diversity, and its scenic beauty.
Preserves
Explore More Reserves
Eel River Estuary Preserve & Sounding Seas Dunes Reserve
Forest Falls, CA
Emerald Waters Reserve
Humboldt County, CA
Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve
Siskiyou County, CA