Lawsuit seeks to stop state eviction
A lawsuit filed Monday seeks to prevent the state from evicting horses at Will Rogers State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Genesses Rievera, an 8-year-old Los Angeles girl, along with 34 other plaintiffs and the support of 1,300 petition-signing members of the public, filed suit in the Santa Monica courthouse to enjoin California’s Department of Parks and Recreation, as well as its director, Rusty Areias, from terminating horse boarding and other equestrian activity at the park. Rievera took horseback riding classes at the park this past summer.
The park, located in Pacific Palisades, is a popular destination for hikers of the Backbone trail, as well as recreationalists who come to watch polo matches, play soccer and other sports. It is also used for horse enthusiasts to board their horses, as well as a place where kids learn to ride.
“The park is not only a living testament of Will Rogers’love and admiration for horses, but a unique opportunity for the public to experience the joys of equestrian activities,” said Kelly Harrison, a petitioner in the lawsuit and one of the horse boarders.
The department of parks and recreation determined in October that the horse operation was significantly degrading the environment in the park. State officials announced that it would suspend overnight horse boarding while a new management plan for the park is developed. As a result, all horses must be removed from the public property by Jan. 10.
“The department’s actions violate a public trust that has existed in this treasured park for more than 60 years,” said the petitioner’s attorney Eric M. George, of the law firm Browne & Woods. “This action seeks to remind the department that its obligations run not just to some Californians, but to all of them — including those who board and ride horses in the park.”
There are about 45 privately owned horses being boarded at Will Rogers State Historic Park. Park officials want the horses removed while they evaluate the environmental damage they say is caused by the horses. The state claims that the horses generate about 4,500 pounds of nitrogen every year, 2,800 pounds of potassium and 765 pounds of phosphorous. Ecologists fear the chemicals are being carried by run-off into adjacent streams.
“We have a duty to maintain the park,” said Steve Capps, the deputy director of communications for the state’s department of parks and recreation. “They keep saying that all equestrian activity will be suspended forever. That’s absolutely not true.”
Also on Monday, the state said it is seeking members for a public advisory committee that will make recommendations for a new equestrian activity plan for the park, which will include a restoration plan for the historic ranch.
The committee will comprise of citizen members representing various parties, including equestrian groups, neighbors of the park, people who have boarded their horses in the past, the Will Rogers family, park visitors, historians and environmental groups.
The lawsuit alleges that the department’s eviction notice is unlawful for a number of reasons. First, by evicting the horses, the department has flouted the state’s promise in 1944 to Will Rogers’ widow that the park will be used “as a memorial and historical monument to the memory of the late Will Rogers.” The suit also claims that the department’s actions violate its own 1992 plan governing the park’s operations, which deemed an equestrian presence “essential to any realistic interpretation of Will Rogers’ life.”
“One can only wonder what Will Rogers, the ultimate horseman whose own horse sense made him suspicious of politicians, would have thought of the department’s decision,” said George.
“One can only wonder what Will Rogers, the ultimate horseman whose own horse sense made him suspicious of politicians, would have thought of the department’s decision.” — — ERIC M. GEORGE Attorney
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 11, 2001. Read the original PDF.