MALIBU There may not be gold in them there hills, but the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors sure think there is value in the Santa Monica Mountains, committing another significant chunk of change to purchase roughly 30 acres in the La Sierra Canyon.
The board approved of the purchase on Tuesday.
Once the sale is completed in the coming months, the county will have bought roughly 100 acres of virtually untouched land that is home to various species of birds, bobcats, weasels and a man-made lake that is free of urban runoff.
“La Sierra Canyon is really a forgotten jewel,” said Paul Edelman, deputy director of natural resources and planning for the Santa Monica Conservancy, which has worked with state and county officials to increase open space and protect natural habitat and wildlife. “The county really came through.”
Staff from the Department of Parks and Recreation still must execute a subgrant agreement with the Wildlife Conservation board, something which is expected later this month. The grant will be in the amount of $427,680. The county must come up with the rest — about $282,000.
A large portion of the latest land purchase is owned by The Polk Bros. Foundation, based in Chicago. The foundation, which was created by the Polk Bros. chain of retail furniture and appliance stores, provides educational assistance, health care and basic human services for the residents of Chicago.
“We have been working on this property since ’94,” said Steve Harris of the Mountains Restoration Trust, which facilitates the sale of land for the county and manages open space in the Santa Monica Mountains. “The county has been very supportive, including (Supervisor) Zev (Yaroslavsky). Without some of his funding, we wouldn’t have been able to buy this last important piece that connects all other parcels together.”
Harris said the land is very high in “resource value” and will be a great place for possible hiking trails and for educational field trips for students.
“My favorite aspect is the oak woodland... and the riparian canopy is just gorgeous,” Harris said. “It’s upstream of the lake that is (fed) by natural springs.”
The land is located just off Mulholland Highway in the La Sierra Canyon.
Ginny Kruger, assistant chief deputy for Yaroslavsky, said it is the supervisors’ goal to purchase as much open space as possible to preserve the natural habitat and protect wildlife.
“We’re trying to add as much green carpet out there as we can,” Kruger said.“If you look at the Thomas Guide — which is one of Zev’s favorite things to do — if you look at it 10 years ago and compare it to today, you will see all the acquisition of land by park agencies and it’s rather remarkable.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 3, 2007. Read the original PDF.