Southern California Newsletter, Winter 2003

Photo by: Reed Kaestner

Preserving Historic Tejon Ranch
by Mary Menees

For years, I have driven along Interstate 5 from where I live in San Francisco to visit my parents in Orange County. When I owned an older, road-worn car, crossing the Grapevine--a stretch of the highway that rises from sea level in the Central Valley to Tejon Pass at 4,144 feet--was both the best and worst part of the trip:

The climb strained my old car's engine, brakes, and air conditioner, but I was always thrilled to make it to the top to enjoy the clean mountain air before plunging down into the L.A. basin.

Although I had driven past it countless times, Tejon Ranch remained a mystery. As I passed the ranch on the east side of I-5, I was wowed by springtime displays of wildflowers that turned hillsides from green to vibrant orange and purple. In winter, I was often awed by the swirl of snowflakes on my way to another warm, palm-tree Christmas in Anaheim.

Tejon Ranch, at 270,000 acres, is the largest privately owned contiguous property in California. It is the meeting place of four distinct ecosystems--the Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert, the Central Valley, and Southern California--making it one of the most biologically significant properties in the state.

This spring, to my great pleasure, the Trust for Public Land and Tejon Ranch Company announced a strategic partnership to pursue the sale and protection of up to 100,000 acres of the ranch's pristine wildlife habitat--the size of Yosemite Valley, or twice the size of Santa Catalina Island--as a nature preserve.

Photo courtesy of Tejon Ranch

In May, at a press conference at the ranch, TPL-California Executive Director Reed Holderman announced the partnership as a hopeful message for a state whose population will grow by 10 to 20 million people in the next 10 to 15 years. "We have a unique opportunity to add the missing publicly protected link between the Pacific coast and the sequoias. The preserve will be just 60 miles from Los Angeles and 40 miles from Bakersfield. I think that it is incredible," he said, adding: "The ranch is historic habitat for the California condor and is home to the largest unspoiled oak woodland in the state."

"Tejon Ranch is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year," said Bob Stine, CEO of Tejon Ranch Company, at the press conference. "To help us plan the future of this historic ranch, we have created a long-term vision that calls for permanent conservation of about 100,000 acres. Our ranch vision also includes a reaffirmation of our historic commitment to farming and grazing operations. We believe our ranch vision will help preserve for all time the California legacy that has existed on Tejon Ranch for the past 160 years."

Near the end of the day, the helicopter that had taken TV crews and reporters up for a bird's-eye view of the ranch had time for one more trip and room for me. I had the chance to see what I had only glimpsed a small portion of from the road, and what I saw was stunning. As the helicopter swooped over ridges and dipped down into canyons, I saw 7,000-foot mountain peaks, lushly wooded canyons, meadows filled with wildflowers, elk loping away from the thup-thup of the rotors, thousands of beautiful 400- and 500-year-old oak trees, and the expanse of the desert floor. I knew then that creating the preserve was critical to saving this irreplaceable part of California's natural history.

Photo courtesy Tejon Ranch

TPL recently selected Michael Josselyn, Ph.D., and his firm, Wetland Research Associates, to configure and propose a scientifically based nature preserve for the ranch. Dr. Josselyn and his team will map important habitat areas on the ranch--including wildlife corridors and other high-value, environmentally sensitive lands--and identify key areas for permanent conservation.

"We are now gathering and sifting through a substantial amount of information and augmenting it with our own research," says Josselyn. "We also plan to contact the many organizations and individuals who have special knowledge of the ranch. At the end of the day we will propose a preserve based on the best scientific knowledge we have, to meet regional goals and the needs of special habitat species," he explains.

Once the plan is prepared in six months, TPL will work to appraise the value of the property and seek private and public sources to fund its purchase and protection.

This holiday season, when once again I head south on I-5 and up the Grapevine, I'll stop at Fort Tejon State Park, across the interstate from Tejon Ranch. From that historic vantage point I can take in the expanse of the ranch, remember its hidden beauties, and make a wish for the New Year: that together we'll meet the many challenges associated this incredible conservation project and leave a lasting legacy for generations to come.

Photo courtesy of Reed Holderman

Lessons of the Wild Salmon
by Reed Holderman, Executive Director

As I waded through icy waters of the Togiak, Agulukpak, Good News, and Unglikthluk Rivers in the rain with a nine-weight fly rod in my hand, I could only watch and learn from the sockeye salmon as they made their incredible annual journey home. The wild salmon, in this magnificent place, reminded me of a powerful lesson: We all are part of the cycles of life.

At TPL we have learned, after three decades of saving land and building inner-city parks, how important it is to protect special places. Open space is a reminder that we too are a part of the natural world and its cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Unfortunately, in California we still have far too few places to think clearly and to unlock distant memories of who we are, where we are going, and what our lives are supposed to mean.

When I close my eyes I can see myself at the first bend of the Unglikthluk River, just upstream from its mouth, waiting for the silver salmon to come home. It's a place that always seems to calm my mind. We all need places like this, whether it's a remote wild area or a city park. We need places where we can touch the land, hear birds, see green grass or giant vistas, and feel connected to something larger than ourselves. With your generous support, TPL will continue to make sure these places--places that comfort us and teach us important lessons--are protected forever.

Mary Thompson and Ruth
Lansford cultivate willows from
the wetland
Photo by: David Peevers

Two-Decade Battle for the Ballona Wetlands Nears End
by Clare Brandt

The great Ballona Wetlands once stretched across about 5,000 acres of southern Los Angeles County. As surrounding cities grew, the Ballona Wetlands--along with most of the coastal wetlands in Southern California--gradually were filled and cut off from the ocean.

"Less than two percent of L.A. County's historical wetlands remain," says Marcia Hanscom, executive director of the Wetlands Action Network, "but despite years of neglect, habitat destruction, and invasion by exotic species, the Ballona Wetlands continue to be a priceless educational and natural resource and are uniquely situated in such a large metropolitan area."

In August 2001, after more than a year of negotiations, the Trust for Public Land signed an option to purchase 193 acres of the last restorable remnants of the historic Ballona Wetlands, and helped structure a more expansive transaction between the state and Playa Capital, the landowner. In early October 2003, TPL's three-year-long endeavor and more than twenty years of work by local wetland activists, resource agencies, and officials entered the home stretch: The California Wildlife Conservation Board approved spending $139 million to acquire the 193 acres. Pending further state approvals, by the end of the year the state will take ownership of the 193 acres, and Playa Capital will donate an additional 351 acres as well as waive its right to purchase another 68 acres.

TPL will fund and oversee stewardship of the property for the first five years of public ownership while the California Coastal Conservancy completes a restoration and management plan--the first step toward restoring the historic wetland.

"I really believe that this is a historic moment for California. We are within reach of preserving and restoring the largest remnant of vanishing ecosystem in Los Angeles County," says Joel Reynolds, the Natural Resources Defense Council's senior attorney and director of the NRDC's Urban Program. "This acquisition will benefit people in California forever."

Reed Holderman, executive director of the Trust for Public Land-California, agrees: "The protection and restoration of the Ballona Wetlands is tremendously important to this and future generations of Angelenos," he says. "A strong and committed coalition of environmental and community groups, local and state elected officials, government agencies, the landowner, and the voters who approved Proposition 50 have brought this historic purchase within reach."

"This purchase is a wonderful tribute to a partnership between the Trust for Public Land and many thousands of L.A. residents, who were willing to challenge the conventional 'done-deal' thinking about what was best for this land," adds Hanscom. "Now, thanks to the voters who passed Propositions 12 and 50, as well as officials who were willing to consider a different alternative--like California Resources Secretary Mary Nichols--nature in the city has a much better chance for survival."

A trail overlooks the newly restored marsh
Photo by: Clare Brandt

The great blue herons that frequent the property have long been a magnet for residents who use a bike path that skirts the edge of the historic wetlands in Marina Del Rey. In addition, a roadside trail attracts many curious onlookers. "The vision for the Ballona Wetlands is to provide opportunities for public education and recreation," explains NRDC's Reynolds. "A restored and vibrant ecosystem that is part of a large public open space on the west side of Los Angeles will provide this."

According to the Friends of Ballona Wetlands, many species--including people--will benefit from the restoration of the wetlands. "One of the primary goals of the restoration is to make the ecosystem attractive for once-native species to again inhabit the Ballona Wetlands," says Ruth Lansford, executive director of Friends of the Ballona Wetlands. For the last eight years, Friends of the Ballona Wetlands have been restoring an eight-acre dune within the Ballona ecosystem. More than 45,000 volunteers have transformed this area from an unkempt weed patch to a healthy community of native plants and willow groves.

"The willow and other native plants provide habitat and food for insects, birds, and other wildlife," says Volunteer Restoration Director Mary Thomson. "Our hope is that one day this will attract endangered wildlife like the southwestern willow flycatcher and the El Segundo blue butterfly."

Even though there is much work to be done before the historic Ballona Wetlands are permanently protected and restored, a vision of people and wildlife coexisting in crowded Los Angeles is within reach. Heal the Bay's Executive Director Mark Gold sums it up: "After 30 years of controversy surrounding L.A. County's most critical wetland, the environmental community is extremely excited about the opportunity to finally focus on what needs to be done to enhance and restore this precious coastal resource," he says.

TPL is working to purchase Milton Creek,
a 640-acre property near Sierra City
Photo by: Phil Schermeister

Protecting the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail
by Angela Ballard

It was an arresting sight. I'd walked more than 1,122 miles along the crests of California's Laguna, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel, and Sierra Nevada Mountains. I'd seen Joshua trees and the fuchsia blooms of prickly pear cactus in Southern California. I'd climbed 14,494 feet to the summit of Mount Whitney in central California. Now, in the northern part of the state, I gazed east over a sea of treetops. Below me, the blue expanse of Lake Tahoe seemed so close, I could almost dip my big toe in it. As I arched my foot as if to do so, my stomach did a familiar somersault.

Every day as I hiked along the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, I was privileged with views inspiring three or four such somersaults. Every day I experienced the unique diversity of terrain, flora, and fauna that is characteristic of California.

Weaving from Mexico to Canada, the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail traverses 3 states, 3 national monuments, 7 national parks, 24 national forests, and 33 federally mandated wildernesses. Along the way it ascends more than 57 major mountain passes and skirts the shores of countless lakes, tarns, ponds, creeks, and rivers.

Located within driving distance of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento, the Pacific Crest Trail is both easily accessible and magnificently untamed. Tens of millions of residents live within 100 miles of the trail. Each year, thousands of day hikers, equestrians, and backpackers visit the trail to enjoy the unique opportunities for outdoor recreation and relative solitude.

TPL's protection of Lookout
Mountain in Riverside County
was important for the trail
Photo by: Phil Schermeister

Recognizing the unique wilderness landscape the trail traverses, Congress designated it the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail in 1968. The trail does provide some of the finest hiking and horseback riding in the world, but its significance encompasses more than the glorious vistas along its route. The Pacific Crest Trail represents a unique concept: a wilderness corridor that stretches across a length of our nation for the benefit of wildlife and people alike. I feel better knowing that it's there, virtually in my backyard. I can set my boot down in the desert and continue walking until I reach glacier-fed streams. From the suburbs of San Diego, I can walk to Lake Tahoe and continue on to Canada if I wish.

"Hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail is a way of staying centered and in touch with nature," says fellow long-distance backpacker Laraine Downer of Santa Rosa. Laraine, age 61, has hiked the trail from Mexico to the Oregon-Washington border over the past three summers--logging a total of more than 2,150 miles.

View of Lake Tahoe from the trail
Photo by: Phil Schermeister

Although the Pacific Crest Trail is complete from border to border, the work required to keep a 2,650-mile trail open, protected, and managed never ends. More than 300 miles of trail remain on private land, and the wild character of numerous other sections is at risk. The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA), headquartered in Sacramento, is the trail's chief guardian and nonprofit advocate. PCTA works closely with the Trust for Public Land, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and California State Parks to protect the trail and the views from it.

In May 2003, TPL acquired for permanent protection 480-acre Lookout Mountain, in Riverside County adjacent to the southern boundary of the San Bernardino National Forest. Including more than a mile of the Pacific Crest Trail, this property provides dramatic vistas of inaccessible areas of the Santa Rosa Indian reservation to the east, the San Bernardino National Forest to the north, AnzaÐBorrego Desert State Park, and Bureau of Land Management holdings to the south. The acquisition, which has been added to the San Bernardino National Forest, is in an area that is rapidly being developed and subdivided for housing.

"By protecting this land, we've protected the views from the trail," says Jennifer Hranilovich, TPL project manager. "You can see the community of Anza encroaching from the west. The Lookout Mountain parcel is relatively flat; it could have been developed. Now that it's been purchased, the experience of the trail user has been protected in this area, and on over a mile of the trail."

In San Bernardino County, TPL is working with the National Park Service, Forest Service, and Pacific Crest Trail Association to permanently protect two land parcels in the Mission Springs area adjacent to the San Gorgonio Wilderness. These parcels are home to more than two miles of the trail, and provide trail users with dramatic vistas of the San Bernardino National Forest and high desert.

The Pacific Crest Trail snakes its way along some of our nation's most magnificent mountain ranges, but hundreds of miles of the trail remain adjacent to narrow easements on private property. To protect these vulnerable sections of the trail, the Trust for Public Land, Pacific Crest Trail Association, and federal and state land agencies need public support, the continued cooperation of willing sellers, and additional funding.

For more information about TPL's work along the Pacific Crest Trail, or to find out how you can help, please contact Vicki Peet at (415) 495-5660 ext. 340 or visit www.tpl.org/cal

Raising money at the Ellwood Mesa jog-a-thon
Photo by: Rich Reid/Colors of Nature

Community Joins Forces to Save Ellwood Mesa

The Gaviota coast, a 40-mile stretch that spans southern Santa Barbara County, is one of the most biologically diverse places in California--and one of the best loved. Ellwood Mesa, nestled within the city of Goleta along this spectacular coastline, is home to myriad wildlife species, and is a haven for people looking for a little solitude.

For more than two decades, local residents have fought to save the mesa's coastal bluffs, grasslands, and eucalyptus groves, which are home to thousands of migrating monarch butterflies--one of the state's largest gathering of monarchs at an unprotected site. Now, thanks to stellar efforts by the community, the Trust for Public Land, and Friends of the Ellwood Coast, the 137-acre mesa has a chance to become permanently protected.

Children wearing butterfly wings
helped launch the campaign
Photo by: Rich Reid

In early 2002, a willing seller came into the picture and, after many months of negotiations, TPL announced plans--involving a $20.4-million fundraising campaign and land swap--to protect the entire mesa. In January 2003, the campaign to save Ellwood Mesa was kicked off by a crowd of faithful supporters, including a rabble of children dressed in butterfly wings.

Led by an amazing fundraising committee of community leaders, hundreds of volunteers worked tirelessly to organize a multitude of fundraising events. With a goal to raise at least $6 million by June 30, the fundraising efforts were extremely diverse and creative, and have attracted thousands of participants.

Artists Ralph waterhouse and
Ray Hunter both sold paintings of
the mesa to raise money
Photo by: Rich Reid

Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment (SCAPE) held an art sale at which 100 percent of the proceeds were donated to the campaign; five local Albertsons supermarkets sponsored a "Buy a Butterfly to Save Ellwood Mesa" drive; and first-graders at Crane School baked and sold cookies. One couple, Mark and Valerie Grivetti, requested their friends and family make a donation to the campaign in lieu of gifts for their wedding.

Radio spots generously produced by Edward Bear and Friends and recorded by singer-songwriter Jackson Browne and well-known protector of oceans Jean-Michel Cousteau, encouraged people to "give, and give generously." Says Cousteau, "We have a unique opportunity to protect one of the last remaining areas of undeveloped land along our coast. It's within our power to preserve [Ellwood Mesa] as open space forever."

The Sperling family, inspired by the enthusiastic efforts of the community, pledged $5 million. "My wife Stephanie and I are delighted to have this opportunity to help preserve Ellwood Mesa as open space for future generations," says Peter Sperling. "My family is pleased to do our part to help protect this unique portion of the coast from development." The mesa also received a $1-million gift from the Wendy P. McCaw Foundation. "This is a great opportunity to provide coastal open space for people and to protect habitat," says Wendy McCaw.

The Goleta Valley Land Trust--which kicked off the Ellwood Mesa fundraising drive with a $500,000 challenge grant--voted to double that contribution in August. "The magnificence of Ellwood Mesa can never be overstated," says Harriett Phillips, president of the Goleta Valley Land Trust. "This once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire the mesa--and the incredible community efforts over the past six months--has motivated the Goleta Valley Land Trust to double its commitment." In addition, several local foundations have pledged support, including the Andrew H. Burnett Foundation, the Hutton Foundation, and the Looker Foundation.

To date, a whopping $7.6 million has been committed to saving Ellwood Mesa. But a total of $20.4 million is needed to protect Ellwood Mesa from a large residential development, which is allowed by the current zoning. TPL is now launching phase two of the fundraising campaign to secure government grants to reach the total goal. However, because $20.4 million is only a portion of the estimated value of the mesa, the city of Goleta is completing the acquisition package by exchanging 36 acres of adjacent property for the developer's remaining interest. Once protected, the mesa will link two publicly owned properties and create nearly two and one half miles of continuous open space, beginning at Coal Oil Point Reserve at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

There is still much to do before the dream to permanently protect Ellwood Mesa becomes a reality. Nonetheless, the generosity of everyone who has donated money, time, and energy provides us with an incredible example of how one community's passion can translate into an achievable goal: preserving Ellwood Mesa, for now and for the future.

Jogging to Help save the Mesa:

On May 31, 2003, one of Santa Barbara County's most successful jog-a-thons raised more than $33,000 to help save Ellwood Mesa. Organized by Friends of the Ellwood Coast board member Susan Sharkey and her family, the event included circuits around Ellwood Mesa; post-run sandwiches and ice cream donated by Deli Planet and McConnell's, respectively; and music by Glendessary Jam. Kelley Knowles, a 36-year-old runner, ran a mile for every year of her age. Stu Sherman ran a full marathon. "We need to do everything we can to preserve our quickly disappearing open space," says Sherman. "Everybody wins when we save open space."

Prizes were handed out to the participants who obtained the highest pledges. The top earner was ninth-grader Rachel Cohen, who says, "I raised as much money as I could for Ellwood Mesa because I want to make sure that anyone who loves this special place can always go there."

Ellwood Elementary School class with the quilt
Photo by: Rich Reid

Elementary-School Class Makes Quilt to Raise Funds: Ellwood Mesa is a very special place to the children of Ellwood School, especially the kindergartners in Colleen Million's classroom. The children spend a lot of time in their own butterfly garden located in the kindergarten yard, and they extend their learning by taking hikes to visit the wintering monarch butterflies on Ellwood Mesa. To help save Ellwood Mesa from development, Mrs. Million and her students created the Ellwood Mesa Forever quilt. With the help of parents Deana and Don Gilman, grandmother Doris Gilman, and teacher's aide Pam Linquist, every child made a butterfly square for the quilt. "We've sold raffle tickets for a chance to win the quilt," says Mrs. Million. "We hope to raise at least $2,000, and all the money will go to help save Ellwood Mesa."

Posted 12/2003

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