THE MANY
Benefits of Conservation

The Randall Preserve is a newly designated ecological space for plants and animals in Orange County, California. As a preserve, it provides opportunities for people to learn about and enjoy the natural world.

Natural lands and waters with functioning ecosystems hold more benefits than can be listed. Here are just a few:

Selfie of two elderly men and a younger woman, all wearing outdoorsy gear and clothing such as hats, binoculars, boots, and sunglasses.

IMPROVING
Physical and Mental Health

The research is overwhelming. Spending time in natural environments greatly benefits human physical and mental health. The lucky few who have visited the currently closed Randall Preserve often comment on how they are instantly transported to another world surrounded by densely populated urban areas.

In a few short years, the Randall Preserve will be your new destination to connect with yourself, your family and friends, and the natural world. The anticipation is palpable, and everyone is eagerly looking forward to the day when the public can escape the day-to-day hustle and bustle by heading to the Preserve.

As a preserve, there will be limits to what humans can do for recreation on the Randall Preserve. To learn more and to share your ideas, engage with the planning process.

Participate

SEQUESTERING
Carbon Emissions

Located right by the coast, the lowlands and mesa of the Randall Preserve form a natural channel for onshore winds, making it a cool and refreshing place to escape the growing urban heat islands. The increased presence of above-ground and below-ground organisms, especially the soil, helps to pull gaseous carbon (CO₂) from the atmosphere, helping limit the effects of climate change. This process is called carbon sequestration. Since wetlands do not have a tendency to burn, often, if at all, they are a safe and much more permanent carbon storage location than even wilderness areas.

This is especially true of habitats that hold a large amount of organic material, like tidal wetlands. Tidal wetlands sequester carbon at 10-100 times the rate of a terrestrial forest. They are not only packed with carbon-based life like grasses, fish, shellfish, microbiology, and mammals, but the waters, soil, and organic material act like a big sponge, absorbing a lot of water, making it one of the top ways an area can mitigate climate events such as sea level rise.

The Randall Preserve, with its over 100 acres of former tidal wetlands, holds immense potential for restoration. When realized, this potential will not only expand on the already restored 88-acre Semeniuk Slough and the 127-acre Huntington Beach Wetlands, but also significantly contribute to our collective efforts to build coastal resilience.

Passionate about the climate crisis? Share your values in the planning effort.

A tranquil wetland scene with tall grasses, trees, blue sky with clouds, and flowing water.

A coyote walking on road with grass in the background.

ENSURING

Thriving Ecosystems

For almost 200 years (not that long), human activities have heavily impacted the Randall Preserve and the greater Santa Ana River estuary. Oil drilling has turned thriving natural landscapes into industrial fields, removing plant communities, poisoning soil, and fragmenting habitats with access roads and infrastructure. Channeling the Santa Ana River cut off fresh water and tidal sea waters from supporting unique tidal ecosystems. Livestock grazing wiped out many of the native plants.

Dirt drag and rally racing in the mid-20th century increased erosion and further fragmented habitats. Human crops introduced aggressive invasive species, which tend to outcompete the slower and lower-growing native plant species. This triggers a chain reaction that impacts all kinds of native insects, animals, fungi, and other organisms that rely on native plants. Some of this estuary land was even used as a residential and commercial landfill. These, among many other impacts, have resulted in a highly degraded ecosystem in these undeveloped natural lands.

But there is hope for the future of the native plant and animal communities that have struggled to call the Randall Preserve and adjacent lands and waters home. Through conservation work like the creation of the Randall Preserve, the local and regional community has the opportunity to steward the land more thoughtfully than ever before by working to restore flora and fauna over the coming years and decades.

Want to get involved in improving habitats on the Randall Preserve? We need your voice during the planning effort.

BUILDING
Climate Resilience

The coastal areas around the Randall Preserve are projected to experience a sea level rise (SLR) of about 5.5 feet by 2100.

Based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates from the “Sea Level Rise Viewer,” inland inundation from this 5.5 foot forecast would considerably impact the Preserve. While most residential communities are at a slightly higher elevation, public infrastructure related to the Santa Ana River and the 70+ mile long Santa Ana River Trail and Bikeway will be significantly impacted, including potential trail connections onto the property. Further, the same NOAA mapping tool forecasts high tides that would overwhelm the wetlands.

Based on research completed by the University of California, San Diego, climate impacts are expected to increase—even along the coast. For example, there will be increases in the number of high-heat days, average maximum temperature, and heat wave frequency (both hotter and drier).

Residents impacted by these changes often seek refuge in natural areas, especially on the coast, to avoid the negative impacts of urban heat island effects, to find shade, and to enjoy lower air temperatures with coastal breezes.

Want to support building coastal resilience on the Randall Preserve? Share your thoughts during the planning effort.