Dow Donates Land to Conservancy

RIVERSIDE —  A 113-acre parcel of land, located in the Santa Ana Mountains of southern Riverside County and owned by the Dow Chemical Co., has been donated to the Nature Conservancy of California for management as a wildlife preserve.

The land, in an area zoned for estate-size residential development and valued at about $1 million, will serve as a wildlife “steppingstone” linking the 7,000-acre Santa Rosa Plateau wildlife preserve near Temecula and the Cleveland National Forest to the west, officials said.

“This is exceedingly valuable land that is beyond our reach for purchase,” said Steve McCormick, executive director of the Nature Conservancy, which assists in the acquisition of private land for the protection of wildlife and plant habitat.

The newly transferred Dow land is mostly grasslands with stands of Engelmann oaks, a threatened species once prevalent throughout coastal Southern California.