EVENTS:

Join FONA. Become a Friend of the Orinda Nature Area (dba Friends of Wagner Ranch Nature Area)!  Click on the Donate button on top.

The John Muir Land Trust now owns the majority of the Wagner Ranch Nature Area (about 16 acres). The Orinda Union School District still retains the garden, kitchen area, and the rest of the southern area of the Nature Area (about 3 acres) that abuts the school. The John Muir Land Trust will be an excellent steward of the property. They will need about $5 million to re-open the property as there is a lot of work to be done. They plan to make it an Orinda-centric Nature Area with walking paths, and some infrastructure (small parking lot, bathrooms, etc.). To donate to JMLT, go to JMLT.org and designate your donation to go for the Wagner Ranch Nature Area.

The school district has also closed the part that they still own. As such there is no volunteering at the WAGNER RANCH NATURE AREA, and there are no summer camps or outdoor education programs.

Thanks to the Siesta Valley Foundation (the group that took over the Bruns/Cal Shakes Amphitheater) we are able to run our youth citizen science program. It will run from September through May and we have a large cohort that are meeting once per month. We are also hoping, in conjunction with Siesta Valley Foundation, to be able to run outdoor education daytime summer camps in 2027 - not set up yet, but hope to have that option.

Celebrate Toris!!

We are holding a

Through the programs at Wagner Ranch Nature Area, my classmates and I fell in love with adventure and the outdoors, and learned to respect ourselves, each other, and the environment. From Native American football to camping, cooking, gathering, and hiking, the programs introduced us to the natural world around us in deeply meaningful and memorable ways.” - Juliana Col , Sleepy Hollow Elementary, Class of ’90

Our Mission Statement

The Friends of the Wagner Ranch Nature Area support the conservation of the Nature Area as a natural environment and its preservation as an historical site, with the goal of enhancing environmental conservation for the community.