Irvine Co., Conservancy Form Wilderness Team : Agreement: The environmental group will manage a 17,000-acre reserve on undeveloped company property.

IRVINE — Calling it a historic and unprecedented alliance, the Irvine Co. and a national environmental group announced Thursday that they have formed a partnership to preserve some of Orange County’s richest wilderness areas and open them to the public within a year.

At a press conference on the vast Irvine Ranch, Irvine Co. Chairman Donald L. Bren outlined a two-year management plan creating a “unique and uncommon alliance” between his land development company and the Nature Conservancy, one of the nation’s largest private conservation organizations.

The terms of the agreement call for the conservancy to manage 17,000 acres of undeveloped Irvine Co. property and begin the first phase of a “stewardship plan” to preserve the ecosystems that thrive there.

“Our goal is to . . . protect these natural resources in perpetuity, enhance the wildlife habitat areas found here and provide for early public use of this special land,” Bren said. “I believe this program offers us a special opportunity to make a lasting contribution to protecting California’s rich natural resources.”

Officials of the Nature Conservancy lauded the agreement, which was the result of 18 months of study and consultation between Irvine Co. officials and the 41-year-old nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Va.

“To my knowledge, this is the first time in California and, for that matter, the first time in the nation that a private landowner has joined with a private conservation organization to protect and enhance significant natural resources,” said Walter Gerken, a Corona del Mar resident and chairman of the Nature Conservancy of California’s board of directors. “We are hopeful that it will become a model for other private landowners to study and emulate.”

The Irvine Co. has agreed to dedicate the lands in the reserve to the public over the next 20 to 25 years. For the first two years, the firm will pay all costs for managing the property, estimated at $440,000. Bren promised that together with other past, present and future land dedications, ultimately more than 30,000 acres of the 63,000-acre Irvine Ranch will be left as permanent open space.

“It is really important to me and the Irvine Co. that we bring about a balance between man and nature,” said Bren, dressed casually in jeans, brown suede cowboy boots and a striped blue shirt. “Ultimately, we will provide a great place for our families and our children.”

In exchange for the dedications of land, the company hopes to “bank” environmental mitigation credits to be used in exchange for future development of Irvine Co. commercial and residential projects, said Monica Florian, an Irvine Co. vice president. These credits will not be used toward building toll roads through undeveloped parts of the county, including the ranch, Florian said.

The 17,000 acres, together called the Irvine Co. Open Space Preserve, will be broken down into three major portions:

* About 6,600 acres, called the southern reserve, sprawl among wooded areas such as Emerald Canyon and Boat Canyon and the shaded meadows between Laguna Beach and Irvine that stretch from the San Diego Freeway almost to the Pacific Ocean.

* The northern reserve is made up of about 7,600 rugged acres east of the cities of Tustin and Orange, including long-hidden canyons highlighted by “the Sinks” of Limestone Canyon, a huge, steep-walled ravine environmentalists have compared to a mini-Grand Canyon.

* Finally, the Weir and Gypsum canyons reserve will consist of 2,800 acres in remote canyons south and east of Anaheim.

Public access will begin with docent-guided tours as soon as next spring or summer in the southern reserve areas next to Crystal Cove State Park and in the northern reserve, particularly in Limestone Canyon.

Among the plant species in the reserve that are targeted for restoration and protection is coastal sage scrub. It is a fast-dwindling mix of vegetation found only along the California and Baja California coast and home to more than 40 plants and animals, including the ecologically sensitive California gnatcatcher. Developers all along the coast, including the Irvine Co., have been sharply criticized in recent years by environmentalists for bulldozing vast areas of coastal sage scrub.

Four animal species that live amid the coastal sage scrub--the California gnatcatcher, cactus wren, orange-throated whiptail and San Diego horned lizard--are also targeted to receive special attention because of their quickly dwindling numbers.

Oak and sycamore woodlands and riparian habitat, particularly in Limestone Canyon, have also been targeted, said Steve Johnson, director of science and stewardship for the Nature Conservancy of California. Evidence that the oaks and sycamores are reproducing in that canyon makes the area extremely valuable, Johnson said.

“We believe with proper management techniques, we can enhance that,” he said. “If we’re successful, we’ll provide a richer habitat area for an even greater diversity of wildlife than currently exists here.”

Steve McCormick, the executive director of the Nature Conservancy of California, called it a unique and uncommon project and a departure from the organization’s normal method of doing business. Under most circumstances, the conservancy buys private parcels and preserves them by either establishing a reserve or selling the land to an agency willing to protect them.

“We usually manage our own land or manage public lands,” McCormick said. “But we believed from the beginning that we could objectively and cooperatively help the Irvine Co. identify what resources were found on its land and then determine how best to manage them for the long-term benefit of the entire region.”

Officials in Laguna Beach, a city whose northern borders are contiguous with the Irvine Ranch, also applauded the program. Mary Fegraus, the executive director of the Laguna Canyon Foundation, called all of the designated lands “treasures.”

“In a sense, they are like time capsules,” said Fegraus, whose organization is helping the city raise $78 million to buy another Irvine Ranch parcel, the 2,150-acre Laguna Laurel. “No one has seen or documented what’s on these properties. Now maybe we will get a chance to do that.”

Norm Grossman, a leader of the environmental group Laguna Greenbelt Inc., called the alliance a “positive step” and said the presence of the nature conservancy lends credibility to the effort.

Ecological Jewels

Officials from the Irvine Co. and Nature Conservancy have outlined plans to conserve 17,000 acres of ecologically sensitive land on the sprawling Irvine Ranch and open it to the public within a year. The conservancy will manage the land. The acreage consists of three major parcels that conservationists say are among the county’s important environmental treasures.

Source: The Irvine Co.