.SMMC-MRCA 2/2/2011

L.A. Mountain park additions...Taken from the agenda of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority for 2/2/2011

HIGHLIGHTS:
--Santa Clarita--5 acres
--Woodland Hills
--Lobo Canyon--5 acres
--Calabasas Secret trail--120 acres
--Mount Washington
--Cahuenga Pass-Hollywood Hills
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Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of conservation easement over portions of APN 2803-030-072 totaling approximately 5-acres, Santa Clarita. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map]

Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of a donation of a conservation easement over APN 2172-013-053 near Conservancy-owned Serrania Ridge, Woodland Hills. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map]

Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of a five-acre donation of 2058-012-007 in Lobo Canyon, unincorporated Los Angeles County. [Map] [Staff Report] [Resolution]

Consideration of resolution authorizing application to Wildlife Conservation Board for funding the acquisition of 120-acre property (APNs 4455-006-032 and 033) in Cold Creek watershed and further authorizing the acquisition of the subject parcels, Calabasas. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map] [Map 2]

Consideration of resolution retroactively authorizing the acquisition of APN 5466-010-013 near Heidelberg Park using funds from SMM-0809, Mount Washington area, City of Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map]

Consideration of resolution authorizing a conservation easement over APN 2425-009-033 in the Multiview Drive area of Cahuenga Pass and acceptance of monitoring fund, City of Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Attachment] [Attachment 2] [Resolution] [Map]

Loggers to Sell development rights by Mt. Shasta...

Shasta Slopes Saved

2/2/2011--Today the Roseburg Resources Company and Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) announced they will establish a working forest conservation easement to conserve the significant natural resources of the company’s 8,230-acre Bear Creek tract, located on the slopes of Mt. Shasta in the northern California counties of Siskiyou and Shasta. This effort will complete the permanent conservation of the upper Bear Creek watershed, spawning grounds for the world-famous Fall River rainbow trout.

(click on map to enlarge)

The Bear Creek Working Forest Project is located in the PFT's Mt. Shasta Headwaters Conservation Area within the Klamath-Cascade region, source of the majority of California’s drinking water, heart of the state’s timber industry and home to one of the world’s most biodiverse conifer forests.

Together Roseburg Resources and PFT are applying to the California Wildlife Conservation Board, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the National Scenic Byways Program and private foundations for grants to fund the $7.8 million appraised value of the conservation easement. Roseburg has committed to sell the easement to PFT if sufficient funding commitments can be secured this year.

Family-owned Roseburg Resources Company, http://roseburg.com, headquartered in Dillard, Oregon, owns 175,000 acres in northern California....

FULL PRESS RELEASE:
http://www.forestsworkwonders.org/2011/02/pft-and-roseburg-resources-company-join.html

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OTHER PACIFIC FOREST TRUST NEWS:


12/2010--We have some great news to share as 2010 comes to a close. This month California's Sierra Nevada Conservancy delivered the funds to complete our conservation easement on the 245-acre Calpine Meadow Ranch in Sierra Valley, CA, located at the southern tip of our Klamath-Cascade focal area.

Finalizing this conservation easement brings the total lands PFT has safeguarded this year to more than 3,000 acres - a cause for celebration!

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=emptq8bab&v=001HMt6LRUvA5islRFztcpzIlGHAsOlHJ8xSbcaxe--gKVVcS5Kve0pavUsav9B4KTe77GLzLV96uprkqG4YjrE5HYZQRNieZcHw2bf0w8hEjYPly5OhEw0xdNBloodgFDIAUZ9zYd-cbsTPgqA0hpmVWXXtZnIGTSamL1-uvQMYEBCjw0Jz3eAcw%3D%3D
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https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bzo64sMxUUP8NDA3MWY2YTMtY2UwNy00MzYyLWI2MDMtNzUzMjg4NDJjMWVh&hl=en

PFT is working with local ranchers to create a conservation corridor across southern Sierra Valley, the largest alpine valley in North America. Located north of Lake Tahoe and a stone’s throw from Reno, Sierra Valley is the headwaters of the middle fork of the Feather River, where the snowmelt from the northern Sierra creates the largest wetland ecosystem in the Sierra Nevada. To date, in partnership
with five families, we have conserved 4,500 acres along the important transition between the upland forests and valley meadowlands. More conservation easement projects are underway.

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Mt. Shasta

PFT is working closely with the owners of large, well-managed commercial forestlands that surround this majestic peak, interspersed with the National Forest and Mt. Shasta Wilderness Area. The goal of these partnerships is to secure key properties that anchor the forest products industry of the area, while assuring the ongoing sustainable management of these uniquely diverse forests. The glaciers and snow pack of Mt. Shasta form the headwaters of the Sacramento River and several of its key tributaries, including the McCloud and Fall Rivers, which provide much of the water for thirsty Californians. To date, PFT has conserved more than 9,000 acres here, with several major conservation projects in development.

North L.A. Sprawl not a done deal...

Obama's EPA shows Backbone in Newhall Ranch fight

excerpted from:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-newhall-epa-20110202,0,6039644.story

2/3/2011--A project to build a community of 60,000 residents along the last wild river in Southern California has sparked a feud between two federal agencies over plans to alter areas crucial to California condors and convert nearly 20 miles of waterways into concrete drains and levees.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency questions whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is set to permit the Newhall Ranch construction 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, has adequately considered the threat of flooding caused by building in the flood plain of the Santa Clara River or its effects on water quality, tributary streams, Native American burial sites and an array of rare and endangered plants and animals.

The corps is expected to issue a Clean Water Act permit this month authorizing the developer, Newhall Land, to use 20 million cubic yards of excavated soil to fill in wetlands in areas to be developed over the next 20 to 30 years on the 12,000-acre ranch.
Of particular concern to the EPA are plans to fill in much of Potrero Canyon, which includes a rare alkali wetlands and roosting and foraging grounds for endangered California condors. Developers would also convert nearly 20 miles of tributaries and riverbank into storm drains and levees, which the EPA contends could increase flood risks to ranch residents and downstream communities, including Ventura and Santa Paula.

"We are not trying to stop this project, just modify it," said Eric Raffini, an environmental scientist with the EPA's wetlands regulatory program in Southern California. "We do not believe it is appropriate to put people in that flood plain, and we are proposing that they reduce the project footprint by about 80 acres in Potrero Canyon."

"We are prepared to elevate this case, if necessary, to our headquarters in Washington for review, which could result in a veto of the project," Raffini said.

Under the Obama administration, the EPA has overruled the Corps of Engineers before, notably in the EPA's decision to require that the Los Angeles River be managed as a navigable waterway from its source in the west San Fernando Valley to its mouth in Long Beach. That subjects the river and its tributaries to the tight strictures of the Clean Water Act...

...The corps is studying alternative proposals, including one that "would avoid all of Potrero Canyon," Allen said. But he noted that the corps has jurisdiction over only seven of the 109 acres of flood plain in dispute. "So the developer could still develop a lot of it without our permit," he said.

"Do I believe these issues will reach the point where the project will be stopped?" asked Emile Haddad, president and chief executive of Five Point Communities Management, a real estate management company owned by Haddad and Lennar Corp., one of the nation's largest homebuilders. "No. I want to find a solution. I'm a person who can sit down and make a deal. If the EPA's biggest problem is 80 acres and about 500 homes, we'll get rid of them. Done."

It may take more than that to satisfy the EPA...

rails to trails along the North Coast's Eel River?

Eel River group wants NCRA's tracks for trails

(The Ukiah Daily Journal, 1/18/11)

"A grass-roots effort is under way to rip out the rails and ties along the North Coast Railroad Authority corridor from Willits north to Humboldt Bay, and convert the corridor to a non-motorized trail." The founder of the Eel River Trails Association said one of four options "is to petition federal authorities to find the railway abandoned, beginning a 20-day period in which a predetermined agency could step up and ask to preserve the right-of-way for California -- possibly the Bureau of Land Management, among other agencies."

By TIFFANY REVELLE The Daily Journal 01/18/2011

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_17125043
A grass-roots effort is under way to rip out the rails and ties along the North Coast Railroad Authority corridor from Willits north to Humboldt Bay, and convert the corridor to a non-motorized trail. The process is called "rail banking," and has been done on more than about 19,000 miles of national railroad, contends Chris Weston, founder of the Eel River Trails Association, which is spearheading the effort. "This is one of the unusual cases where Northern California is behind the curve," Weston said. He argues that insisting the corridor should be used for a freight line isn't "intellectually honest," since efforts to restore the rail have been slow since the NCRA began its effort in the '80s after flooding debilitated the railway in 1967. He cites mounting rubble in one of the corridor's tunnels, geological unsoundness and lack of funding as reasons the NCRA's efforts aren't feasible. Rail banking the corridor would leave open the possibility that rail service could be restored when funding is available, Weston noted.

In the meantime, the Eel River Trails Association envisions a walking, hiking, biking and horseback riding trail, possibly with coffee shops, restrooms, horse stables, and a credit-card-like system where users fund the upkeep and swipe a card at intermediate points to let authorities know where they are.

In the roughly month's time the group has existed, it's gathered more than 5,000 signatures on a petition to convert the rail corridor to a trail, according to Weston. He said most of the signatures come from residents north of Mendocino County's portion of the approximately 150-mile section of the NCRA corridor in question, but include "hundreds" of Willits signatures. But NCRA authorities contend those signatures may be irrelevant. "Five thousand signatures is interesting," said NCRA board member Hal Wagenette of Willits, the former Mendocino County supervisor who was appointed to the authority's board of directors by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors. "It's the larger interest that must be served." The NCRA is under a state mandate to restore freight service to the 314-mile rail corridor, which stretches from its interchange with the national rail system just south of Napa, north to Eureka, according to NCRA Executive Director Mitch Stogner. So far, 62 miles on the southern end of that corridor is restored and could be running freight by March, he said, pending the results of a safety inspection by the Federal Railroad Administration. That stretch runs from the Napa interchange east to Novato and north to Windsor.

That southern segment of the NCRA right-of-way is included in an environmental impact report that covers the corridor all the way north to Willits, where the NCRA plans to restore freight service next, according to Stogner. He expects the roughly $3 million EIR will be certified in the next few months. North of Willits, however, the future is uncertain. "Three things need to happen before we can make a decision on that," Stogner said. The contractor that will operate the trains on the railway, Northwestern Pacific Company, needs to first write a business plan that includes freight volumes sufficient to justify the cost of repairing and maintaining the rail line north of Willits. "That (cost) could be significant, because the geology of the area is very difficult; it's prone to land slides," Stogner said, referring to the Island Mountain area along the Eel River corridor.

Second, the company needs to identify funds for the project; and third, the NCRA needs to pay for another EIR covering that segment of the railway, according to Stogner. "That has to occur before we can do anything north of Willits," he said. "Therein lie many challenges." Those decisions could be 10 years away from now, according to Stogner. In the meantime, he says, the NCRA needs to understand the legal ramifications of rail banking and decide whether it's open to the idea.

"The policy of the NCRA is rails with trails," he said, noting the state mandate prohibits replacing rails with trails. Weston said it may not be entirely up to the NCRA, however. He named four possible options for converting the railway to a non-motorized trail. The best option, he said, is that the NCRA goes along with the idea. Weston hopes to present the idea at a March meeting of the authority's board of directors in Eureka.Stogner said Monday he hadn't received a written request to agendize the discussion. The trails group could also appeal to the state legislature, according to Weston. Another option is to petition federal authorities to find the railway abandoned, beginning a 20-day period in which a predetermined agency could step up and ask to preserve the right-of-way for California -- possibly the Bureau of Land Management, among other agencies.

The fourth option is taking the question to court, which Weston said is "conceptually possible."

Developer threatens San Joaquin River Park

Act now to protect the San Joaquin River Parkway

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from http://riverparkway.org

Dear Parkway Supporter,

On Tuesday, February 1, 2011, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors will vote on the Friant Ranch Development Project. This project, located across Friant Road from Lost Lake Park, will develop 2500 homes along with associated streets and utilities. This project will dramatically impact Lost Lake Park by concentrating a large group of users directly across from the park entrance. The project will also impact the park with the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant in the riverbottom adjacent to Lost Lake Park.


Please contact the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to voice your concerns about the threat the Friant Ranch Development poses to the San Joaquin River Parkway. You can contact Board Chairman Supervisor Phil Larson by clicking here to send your email:  jbarlow@co.fresno.ca.us

The River Parkway Trust has two primary concerns with the Friant Ranch Project:

The Wastewater Treatment Plant will be in the Riverbottom and Blights Lost Lake Park: Friant Ranch proposes to build a waste water treatment plant in the riverbottom and immediately adjacent to Lost Lake Park. The plant would have a 20,000 square foot industrial processing plant, plus it will empty its waste water into huge gravel pits surrounding Lost Lake Park. We find the combination of the potential water quality impacts, not to mention the offensive scenic impacts, to be unacceptable. The plant will be BIG, big enough to handle the waste from the 2,500 homes of Friant Ranch, plus the whole Friant community, including any future expansion. The location brings the possibility of contaminants from pharmaceuticals and other chemicals leaching their way to the river, affecting fish and families alike. The developers have other options for locating the plant. Why take the risk of locating it in the riverbottom?

Nothing's In Place to Help Parks-The Friant Ranch development is designed for new home buyers that want to take advantage of its location adjacent to Lost Lake Park, the San Joaquin River Parkway, and Millerton State Park. Yet the Friant Ranch project did not study what impacts its 6,000 new residents will have on these public resources nor is there anything in place to help pay for Park impacts. Why should our public parks bear the extra burden?


For these reasons, the Trust's Board of Directors asks for your help to let the Board of Supervisors know that the Friant Ranch Project is a bad idea. We join with many other civic groups and agencies including, Revive the San Joaquin, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, Fresno County Democratic Party, Central Valley Water and the Consortium and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Here's what you can do:
1. Email the Fresno County Board of Supervisors today. Click here to email Board Chairman Supervisor Phil Larson.
2. Come to the public hearing, Tuesday, February 1 at 2:00pm. The meeting will be held at the Fresno County Hall of Records, 2281 Tulare St, Room 301.

With good planning, we can have vibrant communities and a healthy San Joaquin River Parkway. Write to your County Supervisors today!

On behalf of our Board of Directors,


Dave Koehler, Executive Director

http://twitter.com/SJRPCT

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Act-now-to-protect-the-San-Joaquin-River-Parkway.html?soid=1101218182244&aid=-9L7Q-97U-E

http://www.riverparkway.org

For 22 years, the Trust has been working to create a 22-mile Parkway along the San Joaquin River. Support from our members and volunteers, and grants from public agencies, have enabled us to protect over 3,500 acres of open land for people living in the Fresno/Madera area and restore hundreds of acres for the plants and animals that live in and along the river.

http://www.facebook.com/SJRPCT


http://parkwayview.wordpress.com/ THEIR NEW BLOG

Since our founding in 1988, we've been working, with support from friends like you, to create a 22-mile Parkway along the San Joaquin River. We want to leave a legacy of open space for the rapidly urbanizing Fresno/Madera region.

7132 Acres of Development Rights purchased in Tehama County

Ranches Conserved in Tehama County

January 26, 2011
(Chico, CA) – The Northern California Regional Land Trust (NCRLT) has acquired two voluntary conservation easements protecting two working ranches and approximately 7,132 contiguous acres of rangeland in western Tehama County, approximately 15 miles west of Red Bluff. Hailed as a “hallmark conservation project for the region” by Executive Director Jamison Watts, these easements will preserve the region’s ranching tradition and ecological values that are present today for future generations of Californians. Funding for the purchase of the two easements was provided by the California Wildlife Conservation Board in the amount of $3.9 million.

Among the resources conserved, the “Red Bank Project” will permanently protect 4,275 contiguous acres of oak woodland as well as annual grassland, working farmland, chamise-redshank chaparral, spring-fed wetlands, intermittent and perennial streams, riparian habitat along Red Bank Creek and North Fork Elder Creek, scenic open space, and habitat supporting several special-status species including valley elderberry longhorn beetle, foothill yellow-legged frog, and California red-legged frog. The project also provides an essential buffer along approximately 7,000 acres of land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and Mendocino National Forest, helping to prevent the area from being compromised by incompatible land use or development. As with all of its conservation easements, NCRLT will hold and monitor the easements into the future.

FOR FULL PRESS RELEASE:
http://landconservation.org/pressreleases.php

http://www.landconservation.org/ncrltpreserves.php

PROPERTIES INVOLVED:
Burrows Ranch
In December 2010, NCRLT acquired a 3,356-acre conservation easement on the Burrows Ranch in western Tehama County.
Big Bluff Ranch
In December 2010, NCRLT acquired a 3,776-acre conservation easement on the Big Bluff Ranch in western Tehama County. Family owned since 1960, Big Bluff Ranch has transitioned from a seasonal farming and stocker cattle operation into a sustainably managed ranch utilizing year-round grazing and the Holistic Management Model.

SCC 12/2010 to 1/2011: State open space deals...

State Buying up more Wildlife Preserves and Development Rights

WHAT’S BEING SAVED:

Mendocino County

--disburse up to $3,000,000 to Save-the-Redwoods League to acquire approximately 957 acres known as the Shady Dell Creek Tract, as part of the 50,635-acre Usal Redwood Forest Conservation Project in northern Mendocino County. http://scc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/sccbb/1101bb/20110120Board05_Shady_Dell_Creek_Acquisition.pdf

(NOTE: the Usal forest was purchased from the Hawthorne Timber Company in 2007 by the Redwood Forests Foundation in order to preserve it as a sustainably logged forest. The funds from the State will help pay off the loans which were used to buy the land.)

--disburse up to $2,500,000 to The Conservation Fund to acquire the approximately 464-acre Smith Tract portion of the Ten Mile Ranch, located adjacent to the Ten Mile River, Mendocino County.

http://scc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/sccbb/1101bb/20110120Board06_Ten_Mile_River_Acquisition.pdf

Ventura County:

disburse up to $500,000 to the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy to acquire and prepare a stewardship plan for 70 acres of the Hollingsworth Ranch property along the Ventura River in unincorporated Ventura County.

http://scc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/sccbb/1101bb/20110120Board11_Hollingsworth_Ranch.pdf

MORE  DETAILS

Coastal Conservancy, 1/20/2011

http://scc.ca.gov/2011/01/10/coastal-conservancy-public-meeting-january-20-2011/

Coastal Conservancy, 12/10/2010: no land purchases 
http://scc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/sccbb/2010/1012/index.htm

SMMC-MRCA 1/24/2011

New Parks, Trails, and Development threats in the Santa Monica Mountains

from agenda of SMMC 1/24/2011
http://smmc.ca.gov/attachment.asp?agendaid=343

STUDIO CITY--UNIVERSAL STUDIOS--Consideration of resolution authorizing a comment letter to City and County of Los Angeles on NBC Universal Evolution Plan Draft Environmental Impact Report (sch No. 2007071036), City of Los Angeles. [Map 1] [Map 2] [Attachment ] [Resolution] [Map 3] [Map 4] [Comment Letter]

BEL AIR--Consideration of resolution authorizing a comment letter to City of Los Angeles on Notice of Preparation of Environmental Impact Report for the Bel Air Presbyterian Church Preschool (env-2009-3085-eir), City of Los Angeles. [Comment Letter] [Resolution] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Map]

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY--MALIBU--Consideration of resolution authorizing a comment letter to Los Angeles County on Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Pepperdine Campus Life Project (sch No. 2008041123), watersheds of Marie/Winter/Middle canyons, unincorporated Malibu area. [Attachment] [Attachment 2] [Attachment 3] [Attachment 4] [Attachment 5] [Attachment 6] [Attachment 7] [Resolution] [Attachment 8] [Comment Letter]

SOUTH PASADENA--ARROYO SECO TRAIL--Consideration of resolution authorizing a grant of Proposition 84 funds to the City of South Pasadena for Arroyo Seco trail project planning and design, South Pasadena. [Map] [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment]

LECHUZA BEACH--MALIBU--Consideration of resolution authorizing a grant of Proposition 84 and/or Proposition 50 funds to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority for Project Planning and Design services for the Lechuza Beach Public Access Improvements Project, City of Malibu. [Staff Report] [Map] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Resolution]

DAVE EVANS (THE EDGE OF U2)--Consideration of resolution concerning public benefits program associated with Coastal Development Permit application numbers 4-07-067, 4-07-68, 4-07-146, 4-07-147, 4-07-148 and 4-08-043, Sweetwater Mesa, unincorporated Malibu area. [Map] [Staff Report]

SMMC ANNUAL REPORT--LOTS OF MAPS--Consideration of resolution adopting Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Annual Report for fy 2009/2010. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [SMMC Annual Report FY09-10]

SCC 1/2011: Mendo and Ventura coast properties to be saved...

Coastal Conservancy 1/20/2011 Land Purchases

http://scc.ca.gov/2010/05/13/proposition-84-acquisition-notices/#more-292

https://scc.ca.gov/2019/10/16/january-2011-board-meeting/

Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $3,000,000 to the Save The Redwoods League to acquire the approximately 957- acre Shady Dell Creek Tract as part of the 50,635-acre Usal Redwood Forest Conservation project in northern Mendocino County.

* 1. The property links to existing protected areas with other large blocks of protected habitat. The linkage serves to connect existing protected areas, facilitate wildlife movement and botanical transfer, and results in sustainable combined acreage. Specifically, the Shady Dell property links to the SinkyoneWilderness State Park and the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council property, which in turn link to the protected BLM King Range Conservation Area. With the completion of the Redwood Forest Foundation Usal Forest Conservation Easement, the property will also link to the east with the 49,500-acre conservation easement property.
* 2. The project will contribute to the long-term protection of and improvement to the water and biological quality of the Usal Creek.
* 3. The property supports old growth redwood forest an under-protected major habitat types.
* 4. The Conservancy’s funds for the Shady Dell Creek property will be matched by private funds from SRL. It is anticipated that the forest conservation easement will be funded by the Wildlife Conservation Board and the Federal Forest Legacy program further leveraging the Conservancy’s investment in the area.

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Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $2,500,000 to The Conservation Fund to acquire the 464-acre Smith Tract portion of the Ten Mile Ranch, located adjacent to the Ten Mile River, Mendocino County.

* 1. The property links to existing protected areas with other large blocks of protected habitat. The linkage serves to connect existing protected areas, facilitate wildlife movement and botanical transfer, and results in sustainable combined acreage. Specifically, the Smith Tract links to the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s Ten Mile Dunes State Park.
* 2. The project will contribute to the long-term protection of and improvement to the water and biological quality of the Ten Mile River and its estuary.
* 3. The property supports relatively large areas of salt marsh habitat and coastal estuarine habitat, two under-protected major habitat types.
* 4. The Conservancy’s funds will be matched by private loan funds from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. It is anticipated that the second phase of the acquisition, the Perry Tract, will be funded with multiple state and federal sources, further leveraging the Conservancy’s investment in the Ranch. TCF will provide in-kind matching funds for its stewardship and management costs during the period of its ownership of the Smith Tract.

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Ventura River Parkway Program: Hollingsworth Ranch Acquisition–Possible authorization to disburse up to $500,000 to the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy to acquire and prepare a stewardship plan for 70 acres of the Hollingsworth Ranch property along the Ventura River in unincorporated Ventura County, linking the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s upstream preserves with protected public lands located downstream.

SMMC-MRCA 1/5/2011

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Coastal Slope trail and other L.A  parks' update...Park land deals in Malibu, Camarillo and Compton for 1/2011

From the agenda of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority 1/5/2011

6 acre conservation easement in Camarillo--1/5/2011 MRCA--Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of conservation easement and processing and monitoring fees, St. Johns Basin, Camarillo. [Map] [Staff Report]

3.4 acre donation in Malibu--1/5/2011 MRCA--Consideration of resolution confirming acceptance of the end of the year donation of approximately 3.4 acres of land located on the Coastal Slope Trail alignment from Jon B. Lovelace and Lillian P. Lovelace, Trustees of the Lovelace Family Trust dated May 21, 1990 as amended, APN 4453-016-001, County of Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map]

Coastal Slope trail in Malibu--1/5/2011 MRCA--Consideration of resolution authorizing application to the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District for an amendment to Project Agreement No. Consideration of resolution authorizing application to the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District for an amendment to Project Agreement No. 58A1-08-2155 to add APNs 4448-029-020; 022, 4451-016-034; 4453-005-093, 094, 096; 4453-007-010; 4453-016-001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 007, 008; 4453-020-008, 017, 028, 029; 4453-027-004, 005, 006, 008, 009, 010, 011, and 012 for the Coastal Slope Trail between Sweetwater Mesa and Tuna Canyon Park.to add APNs 4448-029-020; 022, 4451-016-034; 4453-005-093, 094, 096; 4453-007-010; 4453-016-001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 007, 008; 4453-020-008, 017, 028, 029; 4453-027-004, 005, 006, 008, 009, 010, 011, and 012 for the Coastal Slope Trail between Sweetwater Mesa and Tuna Canyon Park. [Map] [Staff Report]

4.2 acres—Compton Creek--1/5/2011 MRCA--Consideration of resolution authorizing application of funds from the State Coastal Conservancy for projects in the Compton Creek watershed including Compton Creek-Washington Elementary School Natural Park Project. [Staff Report]

The proposed project will convert over four (4.2) acres behind Washington Elementary School, in the City of Compton, into a public park with native riparian plantings, stormwater best management practices, interpretative signage, amphitheater, passive recreation elements, two (2) multi-purpose fields, exercise machines, public restrooms and a satellite office for LACC, adjacent to the Compton Creek Bike Path. The undeveloped site is vacant and is not used by the school or the public.