Preservation of the Whittier-Puente-Chino hillside ecosystem continues to be a long-standing project of The Wildlands Conservancy. Sitting at the juncture of Southern California's four most populous counties, this hillside ecosystem remains surprisingly intact, and is an integral part of the southwest eco-region. As an epicenter of extinction, it consistently ranks in the top four U.S. regions at risk for species loss and one of 20 "hot spots" in the world. This region contains a great diversity of vegetation types, vertebrate species and endemic species.

To sustain ecological health over the long term, connecting Chino Hills State Park and Cleveland National Forest via Coal Canyon was essential. Connected by an underpass off the Riverside Freeway in eastern Orange County, two undeveloped but expensive privately owned parcels were the last viable wildlife linkage between the protected lands in the 40,000-acre Puente-Chino Hills and the 472,000 acres of the Cleveland National Forest in the Santa Ana Mountains.

Under the coordination of a TWC consultant, an array of local, state and federal elected officials, state agency personnel, scientists and citizen groups have worked to gather funding to purchase the two parcels. Over twelve funding sources were used to complete this project, including $4 million donated by The Wildlands Conservancy.

The California Department of Transportation has removed the off-ramps from the Riverside Freeway and has begun habitat restoration of the freeway underpass. Coal Canyon once again functions as a river of life for dispersing animals and expanding gene pools.

The Wildlands Endowment Fund made $400,000 in grants to help to fund the South Coast Wildlands Project to study 15 other important Southern California landscape linkages. The Wildlands Conservancy's California Desert Land acquisition and Wind Wolves/Transverse Range acquisitions are amoung the largest nonprofit wildlife corridor projects in North America.

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