Banning Ranch Finally Sold to Nonprofit for $100 Million

Wildlife in the Banning Ranch property area in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Aug. 9, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

After a decades-long fight over Banning Ranch—one of the last undeveloped coastal areas of Orange County—the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit dedicated to land conservation and the creation of parks, has purchased the property for nearly $100 million.

The sale, concluded Dec. 16, is a victory for conservationists and local tribal communities, as it supports California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s initiative to protect 30 percent of the state’s land and coastal waters by 2030.