Paradise preserved

By Lora J. Finnegan

updated 5:18 p.m. ET March 21, 2007

If you love the outdoors, if you love the American West, if you love wildflowers, wild creatures, and wide-open spaces — well, you’re going to love the 10 wild areas Sunset celebrates in our 2007 Environmental Awards.

Our roster of preserved paradises includes Alaska tundra, a Hawaiian rain forest, and some of the most spectacular coastline to be found anywhere. Our 10 winners are amazing success stories, won by complex public-private partnerships (we list only the key players here). Head out this month and you can explore many of these preserves, from Arizona to Hawaii’s remote Waimea Valley; others will become accessible over time.

1. Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge
At more than 3 million acres, the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge might seem, well, big enough. But key habitats were missing — until now. The Conservation Fund (with the Richard King Mellon Foundation and others) acquired two major parcels in this southwestern Alaskan refuge: 13,000 acres at Canoe Bay, loaded with migratory birds and home to salmon-spawning streams. And 37,000 acres at Morzhovoi Bay, tundra teeming with caribou and perhaps the state’s highest density of brown bears. Backpack, fish, hike, or just bliss out amid nature’s abundance. Learn more: www. alaskapeninsula.fws.gov/, 907/246-4250 (visitor center; closed Sun through Apr), or 907/246-3339 (main office)

2. Santa Lucia Ranch and Rancho Seco, Arizona
Vast stretches of grassland and a passing way of life — that’s what was saved at Santa Lucia Ranch and Rancho Seco, 60 miles southwest of Tucson. It’s Pima County’s largest single private-land conservation project — 36,000 acres of ranchland. “It’s 13 miles long by 6 miles wide,” says Diana Freshwater of Arizona Open Land Trust. “As big as the footprint of the urban core of Tucson!” The job took a partnership of the trust, ranchers, local government, and voters, who passed a bond program. Now cowpokes will keep riding the open range, and the proposed ranchettes will never be built. Learn more: www.aolt.org/ or 520/577-8564

3. Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act
Signed into law last fall, the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act set aside 275,000 acres of new wilderness and designated the newest federal Wild and Scenic River — a 21-mile stretch of the Black Butte River in Mendocino County. The new wilderness is not one contiguous swath but adds acreage or protection to various wildlands, like the King Range (north of Fort Bragg) and the Cache Creek area. And it protects everything from amazing wildflower displays to imperiled salmon and steelhead runs. Lands will be managed by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management. Learn more: www.wilderness.net/ or www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/California/NCaliforniaWild.cfm

4. San Timoteo Canyon, California
Big tracts of open land aren’t easy to come by in Southern California, much less conserve. But in the case of San Timoteo Canyon, a 174-acre land donation from producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens) got the ball rolling. The Riverside Land Conservancy and other organizations have helped acquire an additional 8,000 acres in San Timoteo Canyon and are well on the way toward a goal of 10,000 acres for a future state park (the park is designated, but it’s not yet open to the public). Learn more: www.riversidelandconservancy.org/ or 951/788-0670

5. Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument
It’s the nation’s newest national monument — nearly 140,000 square miles of largely uninhabited islands, atolls, and coral reefs. The monument is so big (Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could fit inside it) that its creation was one of the world’s largest single acts of conservation. These waters will forever give safe haven to seabirds by the millions, endangered plants, and rare animals like the Hawaiian monk seal. The preserved area starts 160 miles west of Kauai, stretches 1,200 miles, and includes Midway Atoll, which is open to limited visitation (permit required). Learn more: www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov/ or 808/397-2660; www.fws.gov/midway or 808/792-9530

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