Parks and Rec

Supervisors Approve Goodan Ranch Land Purchase

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The County’s popular Goodan Ranch Sycamore Canyon Preserve—a sprawl of golden hills southeast of Poway—is about to get bigger.

The Board of Supervisors on Wednesday voted unanimously to purchase 113 acres of land on the edge of the preserve, south of Scripps Poway Parkway and west of Highway 67.

The new land adds habitat to support the 2300-acre preserves’s diverse plant and animal life, including the threatened California Gnatcatcher. Deer, mountain lions, rosy boas, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, Cooper’s hawks and several different bat species also call the area home.

The space will preserve the wildlife corridor between open spaces to the north and south and protect regional trail connections.

Private owners have agreed to sell the 113 acre parcel of undeveloped land to the County at its market value, which an independent appraiser set at $2,820,000. The California Department of Fish and Game would contribute $200,000, with the balance from the County’s General Fund.

The new purchase is part of the County’s Multiple Species Conservation Plan, which the Board approved in 1998. The plan’s goal is to preserve nearly 100,000 acres of open space habitat in the unincorporated County, creating wildlife sanctuaries and recreation areas where people can experience nature. So far, the County has preserved nearly 70,000 acres under the plan.

The County has been successful in winning federal, state and regional matching funds for its land purchases, with an average of $1.77 coming from these sources for every dollar spent from the County General Fund.

The Goodan Ranch Sycamore Canyon Preserve is an illustration of the plan’s value. It protects a wealth of habitat types, including grassland, riparian, coastal sage, oak woodland and mixed chaparral. Its more than 10 miles of trails boast grand vistas, abundant wildlife and interesting reminders of the history of human use of the area.  

The Goodan Ranch Visitor Center was built next to an original ranch house that was burned in the 2003 Cedar Fire. Goodan Ranch is jointly owned by San Diego County, the Cities of Poway and Santee, and the state’s Fish and Game Department.