Banning Ranch as Nature Preserve - Plant with Officials, Sept 7 Newport Civic Center

At the last open and wild place along our coast, Banning Ranch, development interests have proposed more of what is everywhere else - dense condo units.

This development is not needed, has generated strong opposition, has been used to destroy key habitat on Banning and is a highly irresponsible effort by a group of companies with Shell Oil at the top.

The area is as good as we could possibly hope for as a nature preserve of statewide importance which is why agencies such as the Coastal Commission and U S Fish and Wildlife have consistently given supportive comments in favor of conserving this 400 acre ecosystem.

The images attached to this article show what Banning Ranch is and can be. This value far transcends the corporate desire for short-term profits by the proponents.

Regardless of how long it takes, our leaders, powered by our wisdom, must stand up to find the ways and means to create one large, rich and 100% wild land experience here.

Given the massive amount of building and real estate profits generated locally, a modicum of will power and efforts by our official leaders could begin to make this happen, without any doubt.

This can be the great goal for this one last open space, and it is a perfect place for nature to thrive under our care. Why? It has all the elements needed: Large size, diverse land forms including bluffs, arroyos, grasslands, salt marsh and many rare species.

Simply put, if we cant demand the time and resources in this community to save a place like this for the benefit of those who will stand where we stand many decades from now, what can we save? What can we do for them? What will be our legacy and message to them?

So show up for the hearing on Sept 7th at the NB Civic Center around 9am or later. The hearing will go slowly, but nature will be waiting patiently for your defense of her.

( more info: Banning Ranch Newport Beach by Nature Commission )

Thanks,

- Kevin Nelson, Founder, Nature Commission