By Jeffrey P. Cohn n a hot, clear, late summer day just a few miles from one of the fastest growing sections of Orange County, Calif., there are no signs of human life. No factories, office buildings, homes or paved roads mar the view. Instead, the hillsides are covered with coastal sagebrush and chaparral. Stately oak and sycamore trees line dry creek beds.
Mountains dot the horizon.
Here, just south of Los Angeles, roam mule deer, gray foxes, bobcats and mountain lions. Two threatened species of birds, the cactus wren and the California gnatcatcher, make their nests here. There are species that will go extinct without places like this, says Trisha Smith, a land manager with the Nature Conservancy. She is speaking not of a national wildlife refuge or national park, but of a local nature reserve that symbolizes the Fish and Wildlife Service s new approach to species protection. Smith manages the nature reserve for the Irvine Co., a local land developer.