Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP) is one of the largest parks in California and is home to hundreds of native species, including rare, threatened, and endangered animals like the California gnatcatcher and San Diego fairy shrimp. Expanding the park and protecting what’s left of San Diego’s natural land is imperative to conserving habitat for wildlife to thrive in perpetuity.
Both the City of San Diego and the MTRP Foundation are working to acquire privately-owned parcels within the park’s boundaries. These acquisition efforts support the park’s 2019 Master Plan Update and the Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP), a regional initiative to preserve land essential to local plants and animals. In the past year, the MTRP Foundation has acquired 108 acres of land to designate as Open Space as part of Mission Trails Regional Park.
The Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, founded in 1988, was awarded grants for land acquisition by the San Diego River Conservancy (SDRC), an independent and non-regulatory state agency. The land acquired and donated to the City by the MTRP Foundation is in the East Elliott Community Planning Area north of State Route 52 and west of Mast Boulevard. The first land donation from the MTRP Foundation to the City of San Diego comprised 55 acres; the remaining grant funding will support the purchase of approximately 60 additional acres. “This land acquisition supports conservation, will allow for public access, and increase understanding of natural spaces to foster environmental stewardship,” explains Lane MacKenzie, president of the MTRP Foundation Board of Directors.
“The San Diego River Conservancy works with local cities, government agencies and nonprofits to advance initiatives to improve the San Diego River and its watershed,” shared SDRC’s Executive Officer Julia Richards. “Because of the good working relationship with the MTRP Foundation, the Conservancy has been able to ramp up efforts to help purchase land and initiate a multi-year invasive plant removal effort at the park,” Richards says.
This first donation of land from the MTRP Foundation to the City of San Diego was completed in July 2024, with the next donation slated for March 2025. The summation of land equates to 108 acres added to the park. The Foundation will continue to seek funding for land acquisition and welcomes support from the community to continue working on this and other important initiatives.
Watch aerial footage of the East Elliott Community Planning Area (caution: loud helicopter noise)