Free Republic

37,000 Acres of Irvine Ranch Land Receives Prestigious ‘National Natural Landmark’ Designation from U.S. Department of Interior • ‘The Irvine Ranch National Natural Landmark’ joins Mount Shasta, Anza Borrego, Hawaii’s Diamond Head and other beloved national landmarks • Honor recognizes designated land as “a nationally significant natural area” • First site in California to receive NNL designation since 1987 • Land is “a shining example of our nation’s natural treasures,” says National Park Service Director Fran Mainella • Governor Schwarzenegger notes, “Today’s event celebrates another area of our state that can be enjoyed for generations.” NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Standing on...

The radical environmental establishment and their allies in government and in the mainstream media know how to fight with all the means at their disposal. As a California state lawmaker, I can vouch for this fact firsthand. My own experience in fighting the leftwing environmental lobby has resulted in a “long train of abuses,” to use a phrase from the Declaration of Independence. It began when I visited with California Department of Parks and Recreation employees at Crystal Cove State Park in my district just days after being sworn into office in December 2004. I asked questions of Parks staff...

Chuck Devore, a new California assemblyman has introduced two bills to extend the existing land leases along the California coastline. Brief history: The Irvine company owned the land and rented it to private citizens in a cove (called El Morro) on the Orange County coastline, north of Laguna Beach and south of Newport Beach. Years ago, the city and state refused to allow the Irvine Company (a private developer that built most of orange county) to build on one of their prosperities unless it sold its private land on the beach to the government. I believe this is extortion; the...