TEJON RANCH: A SPRAWL TOO FAR?

A recent agreement between five major environmental groups and the Tejon Ranch Company has arranged for the long-term preservation of 90 percent of Tejon Ranch, the largest contiguous privately-owned piece of land in California, 270,000 acres, located 100 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.  Comprising four distinct bioregions, where the Sierra Nevada rolls into the coastal range, and the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert join together across 7,000 foot mountains, its protection is the keystone to California's natural legacy, and is a significant achievement. 

As part of the deal, however, the groups have agreed not to oppose major development projects proposed for the remaining 10 percent of the Ranch.  These will include Tejon Mountain Village, a 3,400 home resort community set in critical California condor habitat, the massive Centennial, 23,000 homes or maybe 70,000 new residents to the highlands, and the I-5 Tejon Industrial Complex.  See http://www.tejonpreserve.com/ for details.  WHP asserts that these projects would not only spell jeopardy for the condor, but the regional environmental sustainability of Southern California as well.  See WHP's response in the LA Times to this destructive urban sprawl, the press release from the Center for Biological Diversity, and the original article in the Times.  See also www.savetejonranch.org/

--------------------------------------------------------------

TRESTLES BEACH, SAN ONOFRE STATE PARK, and THE SAN MATEO WATERSHED

STILL UNDER THREAT FROM A TOLL ROAD!!
 
The gambit to build an unnecessary toll road extension (SR 241 Foothill-South) through a state park and wilderness area
in South Orange and North San Diego Counties must be overcome by our collective voice, once again.
 
Recently, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has "green lighted" the road
on the issue of federally threatened and endangered species.  In essence, the argument is that the road will have no effect on the 11 species found in their limited abundance along the proposed corridor, one of the last open and undeveloped stretches of coastal sage-scrub and riparian-watercourse habitats on the California coast. 

Unfortunately, the FWS bought the Transportation Corridor Agencies' (TCA) line that, according to the OC Register, "...building the road could actually save the Pacific pocket mouse from extinction, not hasten it.  By protecting remaining habitat (that not decimated by the six lane road...) and managing the species to try and increase its numbers would have a beneficial impact on the mouse."

As a result, ten environmental groups filed a lawsuit on August 14, 2008 alleging that the FWS violated the Endangered Species Act, that their findings were flawed and biased, and would invite an ecological disaster if the toll road is built.  In addition, the suit alleges the Biological Opinion relied on "voluntary, vague, and untested mitigation measures" promised by the TCA.  Even more testament to the convergence between resource agencies and development concerns, FWS provided TCA the opportunity to review and comment on its draft biological opinion, leading to the FWS selectively deleted scientifically damaging passages.

TCA's request of the Department of Commerce to override the Coastal Commission's decision last February denying the Coastal Consistency Permit for the toll road extension is under review.  Maybe we will have another public hearing in September or October. The Coastal Act was designed to protect endangered species, wetlands, archaeological sites, public access, and recreational resources.  Sited through San Onofre State Beach and the Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy, the officials did not consider the merits of building a new road worth destroying a popular campground, a world class surfbreak, the Native American sacred site of Panhe, and a wilderness conservancy protecting one of the last undeveloped watersheds in Southern California.  Hopefully, the Commerce Department will concur.   

Please click here and here for WHP's alternative vision for South Orange County Transportation.

See http://www.savetrestles.com/

http://morecollamer.blogspot.com/ and http://www.abolishtca.com/

__________________________________________________________

Wild Heritage Planners is a consultant and advocacy organization dedicated to improving urban centers and existing neighborhoods through smart growth and sustainable environmental planning, formulating transportation alternatives, while preserving wilderness and open spaces.

WHP collaborates with local and regional governments, land developers, non-profits, neighborhood groups, and private citizens to offer educated and balanced solutions to environmental and urban growth issues that maximize public benefit while protecting property rights and sensitive habitats.