It is with great pleasure that I announce that Governor Newsom signed SB 266 into law. This law now requires the Department of Parks and Recreation to accept title to the lands being acquired on the eastern ridgeline of Chino Hills State Park.

Using the Chino Hills State Park General Plan as an implementing guide, Hills For Everyone identified 1,530 acres, nearly all of which is on the eastern ridgeline of the State Park, to acquire from willing sellers. View our Press Release.

As you know, we’ve been facilitating the acquisition of land and working with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, as well as The Conservation Fund, to acquire these properties from willing sellers and a land donor. We are essentially half way to our goal. There are two more phases left to purchase and one potential land donation to process (see the blue parcels on the map below). At that point, then all of the land can transfer into State Park ownership in one transaction to streamline the process, workload, and staff time.

(Click on the map below to enlarge it and view it as a PDF.)

Of course, this bill would not have been possible without the significant leadership of Senator Josh Newman (author) and Assemblymember Phillip Chen (co-author). There was no documented opposition to the bill on the floor of the Senate or Assembly. This continues the long standing tradition of bicameral (both houses) and bipartisan (both parties) support for Chino Hills State Park.

Thank you to all the residents that submitted letters on the bill. We also had tremendous local and regional support from the Southern California Association of Governments, San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, Puente Hills Habitat Authority, the Wildlife Corridor Conservation Authority, Supervisor Curt Hagman (San Bernardino County), Supervisor Doug Chaffee (Orange County), and the Cities of Brea, Chino Hills, and Yorba Linda. There were also 32 conservation organizations spanning the state that supported the bill. We are so grateful for their letters and testimony before the State Legislature. And, last but certainly not least, we are deeply indebted to our lobbyists Jena Price and Tyler Tratten at Tratten-Price Consulting for their immeasurable work on this bill.

We again hope you are able to celebrate with us (remotely) these important conservation wins for our region! We remain steadfastly committed to the goal of protecting additional lands for the region and ensuring the habitats crucial for wildlife remain protected.

If our conservation work aligns with your values, please consider donating.