A former oil field in Fullerton, California, could become a rare sanctuary for wildlife
In Southern California, a decades-long grassroots effort may soon convert a Chevron-owned oil site into a protected nature preserve — if federal support doesn't fall through.
Amal Ahmed reports for High Country News.
In short:
- West Coyote Hills in Fullerton, once slated for suburban housing, is now partially preserved open space supporting threatened wildlife like the California gnatcatcher.
- Local advocates have raised millions to secure land from Chevron, but the final 483 acres are in limbo due to stalled federal conservation funding and a pending development permit.
- State agencies and conservationists are racing to finalize the deal, arguing that preserving the land provides ecological, climate, and public safety benefits, including buffering wildfires.
Key quote:
“You can have housing, and you can conserve land. You might need to think creatively, but it can be done.”
— Melanie Schlotterbeck, a stewardship consultant with the nonprofit Coastal Corridor Alliance
Why this matters:
This hard-fought, fragile victory hangs in limbo. Nearly 500 acres still sit undeveloped, their fate tied up in a stalled federal funding process and a last-ditch development permit. If that funding falls through, bulldozers could win where birds have only just begun to reclaim space. Preserving West Coyote Hills could cool surrounding neighborhoods, offer wildfire buffers, and restore ecological balance in one of the country’s most paved-over regions. But in a state where real estate still shouts louder than nature, the outcome is anything but certain.
Read. more: Wetland protections remain bogged down in mystery
