The Santa Clarita Woodlands Park comprises a key element of the eastern Santa Susana Mountains core habitat area. East and Rice Canyons, specifically, serve as the most critical habitat linkage for wildlife movement between the Santa Susana Mountains, the Angeles National Forest, and the San Gabriel Mountains to the east.

The ecological diversity of this land provides a critical core habitat for almost every species of wildlife found in Southern California. Large mammals which commonly inhabit the area include mountain lion, black bear, bobcat, grey fox, deer, badger, skunk, and coyote. Birdlife is exceptionally abundant, especially raptors, Red-tailed hawk,  Peregrine falcons and southern spotted owls.  The park is also the home of the California thrasher, mountain quail, scrub jay, rufous- sided towhee, and many other birds.

The massive Interstate 5 Gavin Canyon bridge across Gavin Creek, adjacent to the mouth of East Canyon, provides a critical habitat connection to the San Gabriel Mountains. A comparatively broader habitat interface exists between the Santa Susana Mountains and the Sespe Mountains to the north. This interface along the Santa Clara River, however, continues to diminish with the widening of Highway 126 and proposed large scale developments in Los Angeles County. At the south end of the Santa Susana Mountains, the wildlife corridors across the 118 Freeway to the Simi Hills are even more threatened.

Without these cross-freeway connections between local mountain ranges, the remaining populations of most wildlife species would be permanently isolated. The protection and enhancement of these wildlife corridors and habitat linkages form a primary element of the Conservancy's mission.