Deal will protect Central Coast oaks

An oak woodland and portal to Pinnacles National Monument near Salinas is now off-limits to development under a $5.3-million deal with the Nature Conservancy.

The 1,967-acre Pinnacles Ranch, featuring rolling grassland, streams, volcanic bluffs and habitat for condors, contains 700 acres of oak trees -- a threatened plant community in fast-growing Central California. The monument has only 40 acres of oak woodland.

The purchase gives the National Park Service time to secure funding from Congress to add the land to the park. In the meantime, a campground on the ranch -- the only one to serve the monument -- remains open.

Officials released a dozen young condors at the monument over the last two years and plan to release six more this year. Golden eagles, peregrine falcons and bobcats also inhabit the area.

-- Scott Doggett