Palm Springs, CA: Oswit Land Trust (OLT) completed the acquisition of 165 acres of prime wildlife connectivity habitat in Western Riverside County overlooking Diamond Valley Lake. Utilizing several million dollars in grant funding from state programs for habitat conservation, the acquisition took over two years to finalize and is the first acquisition in an overall wildlife corridor conceptualization that will eventually connect to the San Bernardino National Forest.
This acquisition, called ‘Santa Rosa Hills’, protects critical habitat at a wildland-urban interface in the San Jacinto Mountain foothills near Hemet, CA and strengthens wildlife corridor connectivity with other nearby local, state, and federal conserved lands including the San Bernardino National Forest. The habitats being protected in perpetuity include Riversidian sage scrub, Diegan coastal sage scrub, coast live oak woodland, and oak riparian woodland. Several key animal species will also be protected including federally threatened and state endangered animals and other species covered under the Western Riverside Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan. This acquisition also helps the state of California fulfill goals of 30×30, which is a state, federal and global initiative to save 30% of the planet’s land and water resources by 2030.
“The Santa Rosa Hills project is the culmination of two years of work with the landowner, the incredible staff of WCB and CalTrans’ EEM program. Oswit Land Trust is excited that we were able to acquire a property that otherwise would have been destroyed. Putting this property into conservation will provide a foothold in the region that will eventually be a robust wildlife corridor,” says Bettina Rosmarino, Land Acquisition Director for Oswit Land Trust.
OLT was successful in the extensive and challenging process of obtaining nearly 2 million dollars in grants for this purchase but still had to put $125,000 into the acquisition. OLT is asking the community for help. “We are hoping some angels step up and help us cover the $125,000 we had to put into saving this land. It is a small amount compared to the entire purchase price and certainly a small amount to save these spectacular 165 acres but it is a lot for a land trust that is supported 100% by donations. Donations can be given at www.oswitlandtrust.org “ said Jane Garrison, Executive Director of OLT.
“This region in Western Riverside County has incredible natural resources that are being bifurcated and fragmented by vast development and warehouse plans. Connectivity to existing conserved properties is essential for providing long-term nature based solutions to climate change and dwindling wildlife resources.”
Oswit Land Trust has been diligently expanding its work in the four years since operations including working with farm owners to protect arable land in the region and looking toward other regions in Southern California for land preservation opportunities. “In four short years, Oswit Land Trust has preserved over 10,000 acres of land through acquisition and conservation easements. We have several more projects under way and will continue this trajectory toward accessing every grant opportunity that we can in order to preserve land for wildlife.” said Bettina Rosmarino.
Oswit Land Trust (OLT) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit land trust based in Palm Springs, California. OLT was formed in 2021 to save one of the last unprotected Alluvial Fans in the Coachella Valley, Oswit Canyon, from being destroyed by development. Oswit Land Trust has since acquired several other properties, including a former golf course that is being restored into a nature preserve, the Prescott Preserve, in central Palm Springs, and has expanded its mission to include restoration, educational outreach, and protection of farmland through conservation easements.
