California oil field preservation effort faces final $20 million funding gap

After five decades of development pressure and 25 years of community campaigning, West Coyote Hills has reached the final stage of a long preservation fight. Supporters still need $20 million to complete the $95 million purchase of the remaining land in Fullerton, California.

The 510-acre former oil field is owned by Chevron-Pacific Coast Homes and sits among parts of La Mirada, Buena Park and La Habra. Friends of Coyote Hills says more than 75% of the required funding has already been secured. If the purchase goes through, the full protected area will total 582 acres, including the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve.

The effort began in 2001, when local residents organized to protect one of the last large natural open spaces in the North Orange County and South Los Angeles region. Their campaign has already preserved more than 200 acres on the eastern side. A 2014 density shift protected about 121 acres, while Fullerton’s 2021 purchase of roughly 24 acres helped expand the preserve to about 72 acres.

More than two miles of recreational trails opened at the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve in 2023, giving the public access to part of the land for the first time in nearly 50 years. In April 2026, California approved the purchase and sale agreement authorizing the Watershed Conservation Authority to acquire the remaining site.

The hills contain coastal sage scrub and support numerous wildlife and plant species. Friends of Coyote Hills says the property holds 56 pairs of threatened California gnatcatchers and 69 pairs of coastal cactus wrens, a California species of special concern. The site also supports 368 other species, including the endangered least Bell’s vireo, tricolored blackbird, white-tailed kite and intermediate mariposa lily.