A wealthy GOP political donor’s effort to enlarge his backyard with public coastal parkland would “irreparably” injure public access and impede wildlife movement in an otherwise “dedicated habitat area,” read new court filings by County of Orange officials.

The statements are part of what’s now a privatization battle over a protected land parcel in Upper Newport Bay, which has long been fenced off and sought for ownership by an adjacent property owner and longtime political power broker named Buck Johns.

With the help of former county supervisor and current Congresswoman Michelle Steel, Johns nearly bought the land for $13,000 in 2021, a price tag that county officials defended but sparked public backlash and a civic petition that ultimately slammed the sale’s brakes.

“Plaintiffs’ [Johns’] continued use and occupation of the […] state public trust land, bars all public use and the fencing impedes wildlife movement in an otherwise dedicated habitat area,” the county wrote in a Jan. 17 legal motion challenging the arguments of Johns’ lawsuit.

“Plainly, the public would be clearly irreparably injured by Plaintiffs’ requested easement, equitable or otherwise, as it would prohibit all public use of the [park land].”

The land in question is part of state and federal conservation plans, which identify habitat reserve lands “meant to benefit […] threatened and endangered species,” reads the county motion, adding that passive recreational uses in the reserve land are permissible, while “residential uses are prohibited.”