$19.7 million in public funds awarded, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service $12.6 million grant—the largest award in the nation in the past year.

On August 26, 2022 the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy announced publicly their partnership in the creation of a 96-acre Wildlife Corridor. The Conservancy will launch a $30 million “Go Wild for the Peninsula” fundraising campaign to provide for the corridor’s restoration. The 96-acre coastal wildlife corridor connects coastal land to the contiguous Palos Verdes Nature Preserve above.

“We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to protect and restore undeveloped coastal California land on the Peninsula,” said Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy Executive Director Adrienne Mohan. “Precious coastal natural lands have all but disappeared beneath bulldozers and concrete, but this campaign, Go Wild for the Peninsula, will benefit our communities, support threatened and endangered species, reduce fire risk, and contribute to California’s 30 x 30 goal of conserving 30% of our lands and coastal waters by 2030.”

The Land Conservancy was awarded the largest grant in the nation last year of $12.6 million from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Land Acquisition program. This award demonstrates the national importance of the lands and ecosystems of drought tolerant and fire-resistant plants that support the endangered species in habitat managed by the Conservancy.

CA Assembly member Al Muratsuchi announced an award from California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and CA Wildlife Conservation Board, adding $4.8 million in matching funds towards the wildlife corridor. Assembly member Muratsuchi said, “I am gratified to see how this project is helping to make the goals of the state’s 30 x 30 initiative a reality. The partnership between non-profits, local government, and resource agencies are all working together to achieve environmental wins that will benefit everyone.”

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes has contributed $1.3 million and the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District has awarded the Land Conservancy a competitive grant for $1 million from Measure A. To date, $19.7 million in public funds have been raised.

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes will own the parcel and the Land Conservancy will hold a conservation easement in perpetuity as Habitat Manager. “For almost thirty-five years, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy have collaborated to acquire and conserve approximately 1,500 acres of land within our city. These beautiful lands can now be protected forever,” said Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor, David Bradley. “The acquisition of this 96-acre parcel will further protect the scenic landscape and provide a coastal wildlife corridor connecting the coast to lands above. This is a dream fulfilled for the founders of Rancho Palos Verdes and residents throughout the Peninsula. This success is the product of a long and strong partnership between the City and the Land Conservancy.”

The Land Conservancy has a proven history of successfully conserving natural land with beautiful views for people to enjoy and restoring healthy ecosystems with native plants for beauty and for wildlife. Establishing the wildlife corridor will require extensive habitat restoration and fire risk mitigation work to help an array of endangered and threatened species like the Palos Verdes blue butterfly, the El Segundo blue butterfly, the Monarch butterfly, songbirds such as the Coastal California gnatcatcher, and rare local species like the cactus wren, raptors and owls, along with countless other birds and land mammals such as the grey fox. Restoration efforts will include the removal of invasive plant species—through the help of volunteers and goats—and the addition of drought-tolerant native plants local to the area. These plants provide food and habitat for native birds and butterflies connecting the coast and the land above in a wildlife corridor.

“Since 1988, with generous support from volunteers and donors, and working closely with local and state governments, and the new 96-acre addition the Land Conservancy has now protected more than 1,700 acres on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, which includes White Point Nature Preserve in San Pedro and George F. Canyon and Linden H. Chandler Preserves in Rolling Hills Estates,” said Land Conservancy Founder and Board Member Bill Ailor. We urge residents throughout the Peninsula and South Bay to join us and contribute to this extraordinary vision of a Wildlife Corridor and help us carry it over the finish line.”

“We have a historic opportunity in this journey across generations to achieve the Land Conservancy’s vision of a restored natural environment where one may enjoy the peaceful solitude and health benefits of communing with nature, where children and adults can learn about the natural environment, and where native plants and animals can thrive,” said Rob Kautz, President of the Board of the Land Conservancy. “We’re well on our way to our $30 million goal and we invite community members and businesses to Go Wild for the Peninsula and contribute to help us restore the natural environment of this iconic coastline.”

To find out more information or to donate: “Go Wild for the Peninsula” at: GOWILDPV.ORG

Did You Know?

One of the rarest butterflies in the world resides in our beautiful community!

The Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly In the early 1980s, the Palos Verdes blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis) was thought to be extinct until a sighting by a team of researchers at the Defense Fuel Support Point in San Pedro in 1994. This rediscovery spearheaded a multi-organizational effort to bring the PV blue butterfly from the brink of extinction to full recovery.

As part of a multi-organizational partnership, the Conservancy grows the food plants, restores and maintains the habitat essential to the reintroduction of the species. According to biologist Dr. Jana Johnson, who heads the Butterfly Project at Moorpark College, “The Conservancy’s work to restore this native habitat has been key to the recovery of the PV blue butterfly.”

Over the past several years, thousands of PV blue butterflies have been released into the wild. In addition to cultivating plants and creating habitat necessary for their survival, Conservancy staff and volunteers monitor the species’ host plant establishment as part of recovery efforts. Contributed by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy

Contributed by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservatory

The New Coastal Wildlife Corridor

Photos by Erik Jay

On August 26, 2022 the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy announced its partnership with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes after the the city’s acquisition of a 96-acre parcel of land. The Land Conservancy will hold a conservation easement in perpetuity as Habitat Manager of the new coastal wildlife corridor.   The announcement was made on the site overlooking Rancho Palos Verdes’ beautiful coastline with California Department of Fish & Wildlife representative Ed Pert, City of RPV Mayor David Bradley, Wildlife Conservation Board Executive Director John Donnelly, a Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District representative and other local government and community officials. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service was also there to celebrate the land acquisition as the agency awarded a Section 6 Grant, helping to secure this critical wildlife corridor.  Immediately after the event, attendees were invited to a lunch at Catalina View Gardens which is adjacent to the property and owned by Jim York who was the previous owner of the 96 acres of land.