Clint Eastwood's ranch donation now forms 128-acre California restoration site
Actor Clint Eastwood's 1997 donation of his California ranch to the Big Sur Land Trust has evolved into a major environmental restoration project. The land, formerly an artichoke farm, is now being converted into wetlands to provide flood protection and wildlife habitats.
Why it matters
It demonstrates the long-term impact of private land conservation efforts on regional climate resilience and biodiversity.
When actor Clint Eastwood bought a 134-acre former artichoke farm near California’s Carmel River in 1995, the property came with development potential, water rights and a history rooted in agriculture. Two years later, Eastwood and his then-wife Maggie announced plans to transfer the ranch to the Big Sur Land Trust. Nearly three decades on, part of that land is at the centre of an ambitious project designed not for houses, but for wetlands, wildlife and flood protection. The story was first reported by the Los Angeles Times in December 1997, when the newspaper reported that the Eastwoods were donating the $6-million Coast Ranch to the Big Sur Land Trust.
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