After 27 years fighting to change oil field into massive Orange County nature preserve, initial plans released
Conservationists and people of coastal Orange County communities have been working for nearly three decades to transform a former 387-acre oil field into at the border of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach into one of the largest protected green spaces in the county. Now, the coalition of agencies setting the foundation to transform that dream into a reality have published initial plans describing what Randall Park will eventually look like, and are asking for more input from the public.
Those documents and additional resources are available at RandallPreserve.org. They lay out how how the collaborating agencies intend to balance the restoration of habitats for the 18 unique sensitive or threatened species that live there, the reclamation of culturally significant sites located on the property by native tribal government of the Tongva as well as access to the general public. The plans contain details about what kind of work must be done and what facilities and amenities will eventually be available.
The planning process for the preserve is currently in a public input phase that ends July 16. Those interested in helping shape the future of Randall Preserve have until then to formally submit questions, comments and suggestions.
'We've literally waited 27 years for this day, in terms of those who fought this battle,' said Melanie Schlotterbeck, stewardship consultant for the Coastal Corridor Alliance. 'This is an opportunity for them to realize the vision, the dream they had, the reason they showed up to the Coastal Commission and held the signs up saying 'Save Banning Ranch,' this is how it has payed off.'
She said the conservancy had already received hundreds of responses before plans were released. Since then, many community members have taken the opportunity to go over the documents, which are hundreds of pages long, and returned with well-informed followup comments.
About two dozen people showed up to an open house in Costa Mesa showcasing the progress that has been made to date. Attendees examined where proposed trails and entrances would go, as well as photos of what it looked like in the past and graphics describing what might be there in the future. They also filled out comment cards, watched a presentation available on the corridor alliance's website and got to know those involved in planning the preserve.
One person attending Tuesday's open house was Bridget Gleason. Her father was among those who pleaded before the Coastal Commission for the preservation of what was formerly known as Banning Ranch, and she eventually wound up buying a home nearby.
'I've been aware since it was the Banning Ranch effort, and my dad was going to Coastal Commission meetings and helping with that effort,' Gleason said. 'It's kind of come full circle now that I've bought on that side of town and it's in my backyard and evolved into the actual restoration part of it. Doing it right truly does take time.'
Two more open houses are scheduled. One will be held Monday, June 2, at the Norma Hertzog Center in Costa Mesa, and the other one is set for Saturday, June 21 at the Newport Beach Civic Center. Those who turn out are eligible for $25 gift cards. And transportation as well as Spanish translation services may be available for people who RSVP ahead of time.
'We realize maybe they have to take time off of work,' Schlotterbeck said. 'Maybe they work two jobs, and we wanted to help somewhat make it worth their while.'
How and where people will be able to gain entry to the park has been one of the most popular topics among comments received since plans were released, Schlotterbeck said.
The preserve will be opened to the public in phases. The first portion that people will be able to step foot on will feature a 1-mile hiking loop with an entrance at eastern edge of the preserve, near 17th Street and Whittier Avenue.
Open house attendee Maria Irma Hernandez told the Daily Pilot she lives around the corner from the first proposed entrance of the preserve. Once it opens, she'll be able to take her morning walks surrounded by nature, rather than pounding pavement alongside the din of passing traffic.
'The infrastructure does not exist there right now,' Schlotterbeck said. 'We need to get it up there because it wouldn't be prudent to open a property without having trash cans and restrooms, things like that.'
But before that can happen, the former owners of the property must cleanup after decades of use as an oil field. That means the removal of chemical deposits and decommissioning of old access roads.
That work should allow for large uninterrupted patches of restored green space. Planners looking ahead at the impacts of climate change intend to reshape parts of the acreage to allow water to flow into what will hopefully become habitats for saltwater and freshwater species.
'The lowland will be impacted in 100 years with 4.9 feet of sea level rise; all of it will be under water,' Schlotterbeck said.
Planners expect the cleanup process to end in 2026, with the formal decommissioning of oil wells by 2027. That's the earliest it might be feasibly possible to start opening the Randall Preserve to the public.
Once it's open it will be managed by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. The agency handles maintenance, security and a wide variety of other services at dozens of preservation sites across Southern California, including a wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway. Randall Preserve will be the first property they manage in Orange County.
'It is a big lift to open a new park [and] this is a significant property,' the conservation authority's deputy executive officer Brian Balduf said. 'It is in a new territory that MRCA hasn't been operating, so we're going to be learning a lot working in Orange County. But also, we're a park agency. We manage parks. We have a great team. This is what we do.'
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Los Angeles Times
24-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
After 27 years fighting to change oil field into massive Orange County nature preserve, initial plans released
Conservationists and people of coastal Orange County communities have been working for nearly three decades to transform a former 387-acre oil field into at the border of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach into one of the largest protected green spaces in the county. Now, the coalition of agencies setting the foundation to transform that dream into a reality have published initial plans describing what Randall Park will eventually look like, and are asking for more input from the public. Those documents and additional resources are available at They lay out how how the collaborating agencies intend to balance the restoration of habitats for the 18 unique sensitive or threatened species that live there, the reclamation of culturally significant sites located on the property by native tribal government of the Tongva as well as access to the general public. The plans contain details about what kind of work must be done and what facilities and amenities will eventually be available. The planning process for the preserve is currently in a public input phase that ends July 16. Those interested in helping shape the future of Randall Preserve have until then to formally submit questions, comments and suggestions. 'We've literally waited 27 years for this day, in terms of those who fought this battle,' said Melanie Schlotterbeck, stewardship consultant for the Coastal Corridor Alliance. 'This is an opportunity for them to realize the vision, the dream they had, the reason they showed up to the Coastal Commission and held the signs up saying 'Save Banning Ranch,' this is how it has payed off.' She said the conservancy had already received hundreds of responses before plans were released. Since then, many community members have taken the opportunity to go over the documents, which are hundreds of pages long, and returned with well-informed followup comments. About two dozen people showed up to an open house in Costa Mesa showcasing the progress that has been made to date. Attendees examined where proposed trails and entrances would go, as well as photos of what it looked like in the past and graphics describing what might be there in the future. They also filled out comment cards, watched a presentation available on the corridor alliance's website and got to know those involved in planning the preserve. One person attending Tuesday's open house was Bridget Gleason. Her father was among those who pleaded before the Coastal Commission for the preservation of what was formerly known as Banning Ranch, and she eventually wound up buying a home nearby. 'I've been aware since it was the Banning Ranch effort, and my dad was going to Coastal Commission meetings and helping with that effort,' Gleason said. 'It's kind of come full circle now that I've bought on that side of town and it's in my backyard and evolved into the actual restoration part of it. Doing it right truly does take time.' Two more open houses are scheduled. One will be held Monday, June 2, at the Norma Hertzog Center in Costa Mesa, and the other one is set for Saturday, June 21 at the Newport Beach Civic Center. Those who turn out are eligible for $25 gift cards. And transportation as well as Spanish translation services may be available for people who RSVP ahead of time. 'We realize maybe they have to take time off of work,' Schlotterbeck said. 'Maybe they work two jobs, and we wanted to help somewhat make it worth their while.' How and where people will be able to gain entry to the park has been one of the most popular topics among comments received since plans were released, Schlotterbeck said. The preserve will be opened to the public in phases. The first portion that people will be able to step foot on will feature a 1-mile hiking loop with an entrance at eastern edge of the preserve, near 17th Street and Whittier Avenue. Open house attendee Maria Irma Hernandez told the Daily Pilot she lives around the corner from the first proposed entrance of the preserve. Once it opens, she'll be able to take her morning walks surrounded by nature, rather than pounding pavement alongside the din of passing traffic. 'The infrastructure does not exist there right now,' Schlotterbeck said. 'We need to get it up there because it wouldn't be prudent to open a property without having trash cans and restrooms, things like that.' But before that can happen, the former owners of the property must cleanup after decades of use as an oil field. That means the removal of chemical deposits and decommissioning of old access roads. That work should allow for large uninterrupted patches of restored green space. Planners looking ahead at the impacts of climate change intend to reshape parts of the acreage to allow water to flow into what will hopefully become habitats for saltwater and freshwater species. 'The lowland will be impacted in 100 years with 4.9 feet of sea level rise; all of it will be under water,' Schlotterbeck said. Planners expect the cleanup process to end in 2026, with the formal decommissioning of oil wells by 2027. That's the earliest it might be feasibly possible to start opening the Randall Preserve to the public. Once it's open it will be managed by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. The agency handles maintenance, security and a wide variety of other services at dozens of preservation sites across Southern California, including a wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway. Randall Preserve will be the first property they manage in Orange County. 'It is a big lift to open a new park [and] this is a significant property,' the conservation authority's deputy executive officer Brian Balduf said. 'It is in a new territory that MRCA hasn't been operating, so we're going to be learning a lot working in Orange County. But also, we're a park agency. We manage parks. We have a great team. This is what we do.'
Los Angeles Times
15-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Is the L.A. River alive? Robert Macfarlane would probably argue yes
From the second line of Robert Macfarlane's new ode to nature, I was caught in the current, rushed along the rapids of his exploration into a question with fundamental consequences: Is this river — that river, any river — alive? Not simply as an ecosystem or a home to animals, but is a river a living being itself? If so, does a river have memory and intention? What about needs or rights? Each question begets another, sweeping Macfarlane, his companions and now his readers along on that tide of thought. Rivers do not resemble life forms as we're used to them, though the language of rivers suggests they could. As bodies of water, rivers already have headwaters, mouths and arms. Seen from above, meandering rivers resemble vascular systems or neural networks. So why not assume they have thoughts, feelings and needs too? 'For those who, like me, have been largely raised on rationalism, to imagine a river is alive in a way that exceeds the sum of the lives it contains is difficult, counterintuitive work,' the author writes, though it seems early into the book that he has already made his leap from rationalism to animism, at least for the rivers he sees. 'Words make worlds,' he reflects. 'In English, we 'it' rivers, trees, mountains, oceans, birds, and animals: a mode of address that reduces them to the status of stuff.' Part of his quest, then, is to shift his thinking: If rivers — and the rest — are no longer an it, can they be a who? If so, then the river closest to my home, the Los Angeles River (Paayme Paxaayt as named by the Tongva), is no longer a river that flows but a river who flows. Does that change the river for me? That I have to keep fighting my computer's grammar settings to ignore the 'error' of 'river who flows' suggests how far we have to go. The thingness of nature is deeply set in Western thought; recalibration will be complex. Macfarlane's title question takes him to three countries, each home to threatened rivers: Los Cedros in Ecuador, Adyar River in India and Mutehekau Shipu (also known as Magpie River) in Canada. At each visit, he considers what the rivers give to us and what we give to them — an exchange of nurturing for poison, usually. Human-led danger circles each in various forms: logging, pollution, dams. One of the rivers is already considered dead, the other two are still vibrantly alive. In each country, Macfarlane is accompanied by the river's allies, people who already see each water body as living and often live nearby as neighbors. These stories are peppered with rights of nature discussions exploring how Ecuador and New Zealand have extended to certain rivers legal rights to flow uninterrupted and established guardianship councils that attempt to speak for the rivers. He and allies consider how activists in India and Canada are trying to do the same without risking reducing these legal protections to performative nonsense. While those discussions could be weighed down by politics, Macfarlane's touch is deft, giving us exactly enough to consider the question while also showing us how this is not just about rivers but about us. Sick rivers don't end at their banks, but spread into communities. It's no coincidence that my neighborhood, Frogtown, is no longer home to any frogs despite easy access to the river. (Once, before the river was attacked, communities of toads hopped through yards and sang choruses in the night.) As I read this book, I went on long, ambling walks along the L.A. River, trying to see it as Macfarlane might. Perhaps he would describe it as sick with pollution, or jailed by concrete channeling. Would he see Paayme Paxaayt as hopeful? Defiant? Or doomed? Macfarlane's writing is as beautiful as the rivers and the hope he's describing. Everywhere he looks is art — a 'sunset has slaughter in it,' a 'cloud-forest is a steaming, glowing furnace of green,' a sun rises 'red as a Coke can over the ocean' and 'faced with a river, as with a god, apprehension splinters into apophasis.' His paragraphs flow like the water he admires: sometimes tranquil and easy, other times a tumbling, mixing, effervescent torrent directed by commas, never promising a full stop. But don't let his elegiac prose divert you — there is a dedicated scholar at work here. There's the obvious proof: a detailed glossary, and a notes and bibliography section that runs over 30 pages. Then there's the more subtle proof: The whole book is a weighty question whose answer impacts disciplines like law, business, history and philosophy. Macfarlane takes us through each like creeks feeding into a stream. The philosophical underpinning sees the most impressive transformation. He does his own unlearning of anthropocentrism on the page through his intense experiences with these three rivers, concluding only when the rivers are done with him: 'I am rivered.' He is showing us the way to do our own unlearning, too. How we view our relationship to nature is a vital question that people around the world are reconsidering. Climate change has disrupted many natural patterns, and we're waking up to the reality that solutions will involve more than reusable water bottles and biodegradable straws. Here in L.A., our year kicked off with devastating fires that we are still recovering from. The aftermath begs us to really consider the questions Macfarlane is asking. Are our rivers alive? What about our forests? If so, how are we going to treat them? Castellanos Clark, a writer and historian in Los Angeles, is the author of 'Unruly Figures: Twenty Tales of Rebels, Rulebreakers, and Revolutionaries You've (Probably) Never Heard Of.'
CBS News
22-04-2025
- CBS News
Los Angeles River restoration could face setback due to climate change, wildfires
A new movement is happening to revitalize the Los Angeles River with life, but the recent wildfires have put the progress at risk. Amid the concrete flood channels are rare green pockets within the LA River are proving essential not just for the wildlife but for the city's resilience. The natural spaces are helping LA adapt to a hotter, drier and more unpredictable future. Long before the freeways and skyscrapers, the LA River sustained the Tongva people and Spanish settlers. Currently, it faces threats from pollution and climate change. "It's really critical for us to understand that the river is LA's origin story," said Candice Dickens-Russell, the CEO of Friends of the LA River. "LA is where it is because the river is where it is and all roads lead to the river when it rains, everything finds its way here." Dickens-Russell and her organization are helping advocate for nature, the climate and equity on the LA River. They are committed to protecting the river's ecosystem and the communities it impacts. "Our rivers are 10 million years old…all of that life in this special environment has persisted," said Ann Willis, with American Rivers. "We're not trying to stop change, we're just trying to acclimate and moderate the pace of change for many generations to come." Southern California's wildfires are a stark reminder of this changing climate. Post-fire runoff carries toxic metals and carcinogens into the river, threatening water quality for millions. American Rivers is a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization that works to promote the health of rivers across the country. They work with communities to reduce river pollution, remove unnecessary dams and advocate for policies for clean water. "When fires burn cities and impact homes and communities, the impact to the river lasts a long time," Willis said. "Heavy metals like lead, zinc, copper, things that don't degrade… can enter our food chain, can make our beaches unswimmable our water undrinkable." The Sepulveda Basin is one of the only stretches of the LA River that looks like a real river. The area thrives with greenery, wildlife and year-round flowing water thanks to reclaimed water. It's a success story for river revitalization, offering space for kayaking, fishing and nature walks. But just a few miles downstream, it's a very different picture. Most of the LA River looks like a man-made flood channel designed to move water out of the city as quickly as possible. Efforts are underway to turn more of these concrete walls into green spaces that provide much-needed environmental benefits. With climate change intensifying and threats like wildfire runoff contaminating the water, the fight to restore the LA River is more urgent than ever. "There is a direct connection between the diversity and health of our natural world and the economic health of our lives," Willis said. "The beautiful thing about natural infrastructure like a floodplain or a healthy forest is that in many ways it maintains itself…we can take the money we would've spent on gray infrastructure and we can invest in other places where it's really needed." Over one million people live within a mile of the LA River. Neighborhoods with more parks see lower asthma rates and fewer heat-related illnesses. Restoration isn't just about water, it's about community health and climate adaptation. "I don't think that most people understand the connection between the river and climate or the way that a healthy green, thriving river can impact the climate," said Dickens-Russell. "Notice the nature. It's not something you get in your car and drive far away to do. It's right there and take the time to notice it." Community education is key to the river's future. With continued restoration, more sections of the LA River could look like the Sepulveda Basin—lush, thriving, and full of life. But as climate change accelerates, the fight for the river's future is far from over.
