EDITORIAL:Irvine Co. builds new reputation as a land preserver

The Irvine Co., which is rightly known for its success in developing land, is quickly earning recognition for preserving it, too.

Last week, at a politically star-studded event at Crystal Cove State Park, the federal government designated 37,000 acres of the Irvine Ranch as a National Natural Landmark, adding it to a list of only about 600 such sites in the country.

“My dream is that the Irvine Ranch will be known and celebrated just for what has been preserved and protected here … as the Irvine Ranch is known for the outstanding quality-of-life communities that have been built here,” Irvine Co. chairman Don Bren said during the event.

Crystal Cove is, perhaps, the jewel of that land, but also included are such diverse landscapes as Peters Canyon Regional Park, Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and Bommer Canyon.

The land earned the designation because it contains the old, fossils; and the new, a variety of plant and animal life that the government deemed representative of this area. It will give the land extra protection against development and growth.

The designation adds another layer of import to some 50,000 acres of land that Bren donated last year as the Irvine Ranch Land Trust. Along with the land, he set up a $50 million trust to maintain and preserve the land.

“We’re celebrating more than protecting the environment; we’re also celebrating generosity,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said at the Tuesday morning event.

The designation comes at a time when the Irvine Co. has revved up some resentment over putting an end to a car show held on Saturdays at the Crystal Cove Promenade, just across East Coast Highway from where the governor and Bren made the announcement. (Sadly enough, Saturday was the final day of the Donut Derelict car show.) It is a useful reminder that, while the company is still in the business to make money, it is not the Irvine Co. of old.

This is the company that now installs the latest in environmental protections at its Pelican Hill hotel and golf course development. It is the company that donates thousands of acres of land and millions of dollars along with it. It no longer can be viewed as the big, bad neighbor out to make a buck at any cost.

The change is proving quite beneficial to Orange County.