Thirty miles east of San Jose, along the eastern slopes of the Diablo Range, the Simon Newman and Romero Ranches preserve 61,000 acres of rolling hills and wide open spaces in the midst of a rapidly developing area. The ranches are characterized by widespread and vigorous stands of healthy, reproducing blue-oak woodland, extensive grassland, and exceptional riparian habitat. Home to red-tail hawks, road runners, wintering bald eagles, mountain lions, bobcats, and badgers, the ranches' grasslands also harbor the endangered San Joaquin kit fox and the burrowing owl.
Cattle ranching continues on both ranches.
The Conservancy has designed an ecologically sustainable cattle operation that safeguards the streams, regenerates riparian vegetation, and limits overgrazing so that the unique habitat is well protected. Private owners are presently negotiating with the Conservancy to buy the ranches, subject to conservation easements and adopting the Conservancy guidelines for how the land should be grazed and protected. Meanwhile, the Conservancy is negotiating to buy other privately owned ranches in the Mount Hamilton area as it expands the scope of this urban wilderness. The property also contains fine examples of valley oak and blue oak woodlands, two natural communities endemic to California whose historic ranges are rapidly diminishing. One of the prominent features of the western flank of the Diablo Range is Palassou Ridge, which runs for about ten miles along the border of Henry Coe State Park.