James Cagney bought 417 acres of California land that became a wildlife corridor

For decades, the grasslands outside Ramona, California, looked much as they had for generations: open country, seasonal pools and wide stretches of native vegetation broken by grazing land. As reported by the local news report, The San Diego Union-Tribune, among the people who once owned part of this landscape was Hollywood actor James Cagney, who acquired hundreds of acres in the area with his brother William during the 1940s. The property did not remain intact forever. Portions were sold over the years, leaving 417 acres under the William J. Cagney Trust.By the early 2000s, however, the remaining tract had caught the attention of conservationists for a very different reason. It was part of one of the last sizable grassland habitats in coastal Southern California, supporting rare plants and threatened wildlife. In 2003, after years of negotiations, the Nature Conservancy purchased the former Cagney property for $2.7 million, placing the remaining land on a path toward long-term protection.How the Cagney brothers acquired the Ramona grasslands in the 1940sRamona was a very different place when the Cagney brothers acquired their land. The community was still relatively rural, and th...