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USGS Study on Condor Movement in Southern California Supports Tejon Ranch Conservation Plan

^{Published on 2010-11-26 13:15:39 - Market Wire}
 

TEJON RANCH, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Tejon Ranch Co. (NYSE: TRC) announced today that a review of a recently released study on individual condor movement in Southern California, conducted on behalf of the US Fish and Wildlife Service by the US Geological Survey, shows that condors continue to use Tejon Ranch as foraging habitat, reaffirming the decision by Tejon Ranch Co. to enter into a comprehensive, science-based Conservation and Land Use Agreement in which 90% of the Rancha™s 270,000 acres would ultimately be conserved.

"The study shows the importance of conserving those areas of Tejon Ranch most used by the condor for foraging a" and thata™s exactly what wea™re doing."

aWe welcome the USGS study,a said Robert A. Stine, President and CEO of Tejon Ranch Company. aThe study shows the importance of conserving those areas of Tejon Ranch most used by the condor for foraging a" and thata™s exactly what wea™re doing.a

Last week, Californiaa™s Wildlife Conservation Board authorized the use of $15.8 million in funds, approved by California voters in 2006 for the acquisition of conservation habitat under Proposition 84, to purchase conservation easements on about 62,000 acres of Tejon Ranch. That was an important step in implementing the Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement, which was reached in 2008 between Tejon Ranch Co., its development partner DMB Associates, and the countrya™s leading environmental conservation organizations, Audubon California, Endangered Habitats League, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Planning and Conservation League, and the Sierra Club. The 2008 Agreement is the largest and most significant private conservation agreement in California history.

The remaining balance of the property protected by conservation easements as defined within the landmark Agreement, approximately 178,000 acres, will be dedicated by Tejon Ranch Co. to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy over the next several decades as the Company achieves entitlement and ultimately develops the communities of Tejon Mountain Village, Centennial and the future 12,400 acre planning area at the base of the Grapevine.

The USGS study is available at [ http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1287 ].