Our Goals... Dreams do come true!   Since 1990 the city of Laguna Beach, state of California, County of Orange and Laguna Canyon Foundation donors helped purchase four out of the five Laguna Laurel development parcels under an agreement with the landowner, The Irvine Company.  The purchased land became the heart of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.  Although the purchase agreement expired in 1995, before $33 million could be raised to buy the fifth Laguna Laurel parcel, the Foundation did not lose hope. Instead, we initiated a series of meetings from 1994 to 2001 between representatives from Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods and Laguna Hills, along with the community of Leisure World, the County of Orange and interested individuals. Together, they resolved to seek a solution for the balance of the Laguna Laurel project and Planning Area 18 (an adjacent parcel in the City of Irvine proposed for development), one that would have no negative impact on the water and viewshed of the 19,000-acre South Coast Wilderness system. But the question of how and with what funds to preserve the land lingered.

On November 28, 2001, Donald Bren, chairman of The Irvine Company, answered that question.  The final Laguna Laurel parcel, 173-acres, would be part of a larger 11,000-acre gift donated to the public by The Irvine Company. The acreage would be preserved forever as parkland by a conservation easement to The Nature Conservancy.  As an expression of its great joy, Laguna Canyon Foundation erected a series of signs along Laguna Canyon Road:

Thank You Irvine Company
What a Gift
We Are Keeping It Wild!

Completion of the James and Rosemary Nix Nature Center at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. Thanks to a generous, $500,000 gift by Jim and Rosemary Nix, plans are well under way for the 2.5-million Nix Nature Center in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park's Little Sycamore Canyon. The Foundation has committed to manage and raise funds for the interpretive exhibit program.

Long-term goals include a coordinated educational program for the three parks, adequate interpretative centers for all the parks and an access program that provides opportunities for park visitors yet assures habitat protection.

The Foundation is currently funding the following projects:

• Offering special access days at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.
• Supporting preservation of lands at risk within and adjacent to Laguna Canyon.
• Providing $10,000 for the first phase of the Little Sycamore Canyon staging area.
• Helping to fund construction of the Nix Nature Center.
• Managing and funding the nature center's interpretive education program.
• Facilitating the nature center's architectural and interpretive exhibit planning.
• Developing a multi-park education program.
• Stocking the South Coast Wilderness Plant Identification Guide and trail map publications sold at all park locations.
• Providing cell phone service for Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park rangers.
• Replacing the sunshade at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.
• Organizing quarterly South Coast Wilderness Park Supporters meetings for park staff and volunteer groups.
• Offering free estate planning and financial planning workshops to area residents.

Laguna Canyon Foundation
303 Broadway Avenue # 107 Laguna Beach CA 92651
Mailing Address: PO Box 4895 Laguna Beach CA 92652
949-497-8324 Fax: 949-376-5590
E-mail: lagunacf2@lagunacanyon.org
Message Center: 949-855-7275 (PARK)