By JESSE HALEY Special to the Daily Press
Above the city of Calabasas, a convoy of half-full black SUVs snaked up a windy, private fire road, chauffeuring land preservationists, environmentalists and public officials to tour their newest acquisition.
The Mountain Restoration Trust recently bought 40 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains to ensure that they will never be developed.
Dubbed Secret Valley after the Secret Trail, which runs through the plot of rocky desert, the parcel brings MRT’s acquisitions to more than 4,400 acres since its inception in 1981. The property will be maintained under the MRT and California State parks, and will be used by recreationalists.
Secret Valley lies adjacent to MRT’s principal holding, the Cold Creek Preserve, a 540-acre property home to one of the Santa Monica Mountains’ rare, year-round streams. The gated entrance to the Calabasas/Cold Creek Trail is located at the one mile marker on Stunt Road, four miles east of Malibu, off of Mullholland Drive. Two and a half miles up the rocky, hard packed fire road is Secret Valley.
Fair market value for the property is estimated at $2 million. MRT president Stephen Harris, a veteran of the real estate business, negotiated the deal so MRT would pay $500,000 in cash and accept a charitable donation of $1.5 million by the owner.
A majority of MRT’s acquisitions depend on tax deductible donations.
California State Parks, Land and Water Conservation Fund, the federal Recreation Trails Fund, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the County of Los Angeles helped MRT acquire the property.
In January 2002, the MRT had 800 acres of land in escrow, under contract, and in negotiations for acquisition.
A non-profit corporation, the MRT funds its projects through federal and state grants, and contributions from its board members and supporters. The organization is the largest non-governmental land owner in the Santa Monica Mountains. Of the 4,400 acres MRT acquired in about 300 transactions, the MRT owns and maintains 2,000 acres.
The MRT was established jointly by the California State Coastal Conservancy and the California Coastal Commission. Its mission is to preserve the Santa Monica Mountains for use as a recreational destination, a protected park where millions of LA County residents can enjoy hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails.
More than half of the 150,050 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is privately owned. The area includes 500 miles of trails and hosts 30 million visitors a year. At night, wildlife uses the trails to move between open lands.
Environmentalists say the threat of development jeopardizes more than the principal and scenic landscape of the area — it also would make an irreversible impact on a delicate ecosystem, officials say.
“It’s per square mile, the most unstable environment (in California),” Harris said.
Building codes call for the clearing of trees and underbrush for 200 feet around new homes to limit fire danger. The removal of the natural root structure of native brush leaves the ground loose, increasing erosion and the potential for land slides, environmentalists say.
LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky recognized MRT’s progress in resisting commercial development and preserving the local ecosystem.
“If you’re going to build anything in this part of town, it’s going to be a fight,” he said. “This is our cathedral. This was made for us and handed to us as a legacy.”
“If you’re going to build anything in this part of town, it’s going to be a fight,”
“This is our cathedral. This was made for us and handed to us as a legacy.” — LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky recognized MRT’s progress in resisting commercial development and preserving the local ecosystem. he said
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 30, 2002. Read the original PDF.