OCTA officials purchased the sixth open space property in late December as part of the Measure M2 Freeway Environmental Mitigation Program. To date, OCTA has acquired approximately 1,150 acres of open space property that will be permanently designated as wilderness preserves. The 204-acre MacPherson property was purchased for approximately $2.5 million and is located northwest of Rancho Santa Margarita in the Silverado-Modjeska area.
The MacPherson property was identified as a priority conservation area because of the diversity of habitat types found on the property, including chaparral, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, and native grassland. This property is adjacent to Orange County Parks open space properties as well as Irvine Ranch Conservancy wildlands, enabling linkage to other key protected wildlands.
In Fall 2010, the OCTA Board of Directors allocated a total of $42 million to purchase open space in Orange County during the first round of funding. Five of the acquired properties are located in the Trabuco Canyon area and the sixth one is in Brea. Approximately $4.5 million (inclusive of the long-term management cost) remains for additional acquisitions.
