Conservancy Expands Into Santa Clarita

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy announced the largest expansion of its boundaries in 10 years Friday, saying it will start trying to acquire property and protect wildlife habitat in 57,000 acres of the Santa Clara River Watershed.

The expansion, already approved by the Legislature, gives the agency the ability to seek state funding and grants to buy property and preserve it as open space.

However, the change does not give the agency veto power over development planned for the area, including a 636-home subdivision and a gravel mine. Under current state funding rules, the conservancy can buy property only from willing sellers.

The conservancy’s board voted Wednesday to expand the agency’s domain to include the watershed area southeast of the Antelope Valley Freeway, said Paul Edelman, chief of planning and natural resources for the agency. The decision extends what is known as the agency’s Rim of the Valley Trail Corridor.

“It’s a really sweet area that fortunately has not undergone a lot of development,” Edelman said.

The first acquisition would probably be in Whitney Canyon, Edelman said. The conservancy is slated to receive $2.5 million in funds from the state budget this year to acquire property in the canyon.

The new zone extends from Whitney Canyon in Newhall to Kentucky Springs Canyon at the edge of Palmdale. The conservancy’s main goal is to secure a wildlife habitat link between the two parts of Angeles National Forest that are divided by the 14 Freeway.

It has targeted the area for preservation because of wildlife habitat, recreational trail linkages, scenic views and the protection of endangered species including the Arroyo toad, the slender horned spine flower, and three fish--the unarmored three spine stickleback, the Arroyo chub and the Santa Ana sucker.

There are several projects under consideration in the new conservancy zone. PacSun of Pasadena is seeking to build hundreds of homes along Golden Valley Road in Santa Clarita. Southdown Inc. is seeking county permission to operate a gravel mine. Edelman said the conservancy will seek to preserve as much land as possible, although it is not realistic to think it will be able to stop all development in the area.

John Jameson, executive vice president of PacSun, said he doubts the conservancy’s acquisition will affect the company’s plan to build 636 homes. “We’re not too worried about it. They don’t have any zoning powers,” Jameson said. “We’ve already been working with them to set aside land that gives them connections to open space. I don’t think we’re at odds.”

Jeff Lambert, director of planning and building services for the city of Santa Clarita, said the city strongly supports conservancy efforts to preserve open space in and around the community. The city and the conservancy have created a joint powers authority to preserve open space around the Santa Clarita Valley.

“It’s another part of the strategy to get additional land into public ownership,” Lambert said.

But Lee Gregg, vice president of Glendale-based Gregg’s Artistic Homes, said developers have little to fear from the conservancy. The agency has been attempting for years to find money to buy the 238 acres in the Verdugo Mountains where his company wants to build 572 homes.

“They’re sort of a paper tiger,” said Gregg. “They have a long list of properties they want to buy but no money to do it.”

About 25,000 acres of the 57,000-acre watershed expansion are located within Angeles National Forest. Edelman said the conservancy moved to extend its borders into the forest to gain the ability to acquire pockets of private lands located within forest boundaries.

In addition to the conservancy’s action, U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) announced this week that the House of Representatives has approved a $100,000 appropriation to remove nonnative weeds from the Santa Clara River, which runs from Acton through Santa Clarita and into Ventura County. The targeted weeds are Arundo donax and tamarisk.

“The benefits of this investment would include added fire protection, added flood protection, protection of various endangered species within the Santa Clara River, improvement in the quality of water and a powerful water-conservation program,” McKeon said.

The $100,000 appropriation was contained in HR 4733, the Fiscal Year 2001 Energy and Water Appropriations Act, approved by the House on Tuesday.

Conservancy Expansion Area

Source: Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy