CA Conserved 631K Acres In One Year, Newsom Says

CALIFORNIA — The Golden State is getting closer to its goal of transforming 30 percent of state lands into conservation areas, having added nearly 1,000 square miles since just last April.

Gov. Gavin Newsom outlined the state's progress Thursday, showing approximately 631,000 acres of land conserved since last April. Newsom's "30x30" initiative, an executive order signed in 2020, called for six million acres of land and 500,000 acres of coastal waters to be preserved by 2030. That mission is in line with a 2021 announcement from President Joe Biden, looking to conserve 30 percent of lands and coastal waters nationally.

"California is setting the bar for conservation for other states and nations around the world," Newsom said Thursday. "Preserving species in peril, breaking down barriers to the outdoors for underserved communities, working alongside Native people who have stewarded these lands and waters since time immemorial — our 30x30 initiative is restoring and protecting California's unparalleled natural beauty for generations to come."

With the progress made over the last year, California is now above 24 percent for land conservation and just over 16 percent for coastal waters.

The latest additions include Banning Ranch, where the state spent $97 million to acquire 387 acres of lowlands and coastal bluffs in Newport Beach. California is also working to construct new wildlife crossings across busy roadways, having recently begun work along Highway 17 in Santa Cruz County, and the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The conservation initiative is funded in part by $100 million in grants. Read more about the 30x30 initiative in the state's inaugural report.