Hanning Flat

Southern California

What We Did
Secured valuable habitat while protecting land for public recreation.

Our Goal
Improve climate resilience and support critical wildlife while connecting more people to the outdoors.

Support Our Work in California

A view of a desert landscape with mountains and a lake.

Hanning Flat by the Numbers

3,806

acres protected

2,150

feet of elevation change

Connecting Habitats in Southern California

Located where three ecological regions—the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, and Mojave—come together and adjacent to four nature preserves, the 3,806-acre Hanning Flat property is a key piece of land when it comes to wildlife habitat connectivity and climate resilience.

The land was acquired by Trust for Public Land in partnership with the Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation (KRVH), the Southern Sierra Research Station, Audubon California, and the California Natural Resources Agency and donated to KRVH in 2020. Where were once segregated ecological preserves now connected wildlife corridors that also allow public access to a larger network of conserved land for outdoor recreation.

A popular birding spot, Hanning Flat has been identified as a potential burrowing owl re-establishment site due to its gradual sloping grasslands. A range of elevation spanning from 2,700 to 4,850 feet, along with the presence of intermittent streams, canyons, and small mountains, provide critical habitat for many more wildlife species, including yellow-billed cuckoos, golden eagles, mountain lions, and American badgers.

Twenty miles south lies Desert Springs, another birding hotspot where TPL acquired eight separate springs totaling 1,415 acres in 2019, which were then transferred to the Mojave Desert Land Trust.

Acquiring lands like these, which was done with support from a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, also makes wildfire management more efficient and effective, an ever-increasing priority in the face of climate change.

About This Project

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Get in Touch With Our California Team

Los Angeles Office

135 West Green Street
2nd Floor
Pasadena, CA, 91105
(323) 223-0441
california@tpl.org

Sacramento Office

1107 9th Street
Suite 1050
Sacramento, CA, 95814
(916) 557-1673
california@tpl.org

San Francisco Office

23 Geary Street
Suite 1000
San Francisco, CA, 94108
(415) 495-4014
california@tpl.org

Guillermo Rodriguez

Vice President Pacific Region, California State Director

california@tpl.org