All the required $97 million now in place to buy, conserve Banning Ranch

An oil pumpjack operates near Encelia, a native shrub and part of the coastal sage scrub plant community in the Banning Ranch oil field on the border of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. “There’s adrenaline running through my veins,” said Melanie Schlotterbeck, executive director of the Banning Ranch Conservancy. “I’m exceedingly excited.” Schlotterbeck credited a 2019 $50-million donation from philanthropists Frank and Joann Randall of Newport Beach, along with Banning Ranch Conservancy board and its president, Terry Welsh, as the reasons “we’re even standing here today. Guillermo Rodriguez, the Trust for Public Land’s California state director and vice president for the Pacific region, said the next steps are to secure an agreement for the remediation of the land and to sign over the property to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, which will receive Banning Ranch. It’s a great example of what the governor is looking for in implementing the 30-by-30 goal — protecting 30% of California’s land and coastal areas by 2030.” Rodriguez said that remediation, which was included in the $97-million purchase price, is expected to occur over the next two years during which the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is expected to do its public outreach.