ORANGE – The Orange County Transportation Authority announced the new names of the agency’s seven open space preserves, aiming to highlight the regional and environmental significances of each property that will remain protected from development forever.
The names were revealed during an OCTA-led hike on Saturday at Wren’s View Preserve in Trabuco Canyon, which was previously called O’Neill Oaks. The other properties are now called:
- Trabuco Rose Preserve in Trabuco Canyon, previously Ferber Ranch
- Bobcat Ridge Preserve in Trabuco Canyon, previously Hafen
- Live Oak Creek Preserve in Trabuco Canyon, previously Saddle Creek South
- Horizon Preserve in Laguna Beach, previously Aliso Canyon
- Eagle Ridge Preserve in Brea, previously Hayashi
- Silverado Chaparral Preserve in Silverado Canyon, previously MacPherson Pacific
“Renaming these wilderness preserves demonstrates OCTA’s continued commitment to protecting natural resources at the same time we make needed improvements to our freeways,” said OCTA Chairwoman Lisa Bartlett, also the Fifth District County Supervisor. “These properties were previously slated for development, but thanks to OCTA’s innovative approach and collaboration with the environmental community, they will remain pristine for generations to come.”
In the month leading up to the hike, members of the public were able to vote online to rename the properties. Many of the original names were named for the families that once owned the land.
The seven open space properties, totaling 1,300 acres, have been purchased from willing sellers through OCTA’s Freeway Environmental Mitigation Program for the purpose of preserving them. The program allocates funds from Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, to acquire land and fund habitat restoration projects in exchange for streamlined approvals of freeway improvement projects throughout Orange County.
The program is a comprehensive effort to offset the environmental impacts of the freeway construction projects by preserving large swaths of valuable habitat, to protect the plant species and rare animals that live on the land and provide connectivity to other natural lands.
A total of 12 restoration projects have also been funded throughout the county to restore existing conservation lands to their native state. Approximately $30 million has been spent on acquisitions and $10 million on more than 350 acres of habitat restoration activities.
For more information on OCTA’s open space properties or to sign up for a future guided hike, visit preservingourlegacy.org.
