Significant 245-acre parcel to become government parkland
By Gloria Glasser
Acorn Staff Writer

Outdoor enthusiasts have great reason to rejoice as a large and significant addition to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA), specifically the Backbone Trail Corridor, was announced recently by L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaro-slavsky.

The 245-acre parcel that flanks either side of Little Sycamore Canyon Road just north of its junction with Mulholland Highway (located in the mountains between the city of Malibu and the Ventura County line) had long been imperiled by ambitious development plans despite the exceptionally rugged terrain.

In its present state, the full length of Little Sycamore Canyon Road (it begins at Mulholland and runs about three miles before turning south and transitioning into Yerba Buena Road) is home to only two secluded houses.

So the potential for a major transformation from rural solitude to suburban sprawl was interpreted as a very real threat to environmentalists and open-space advocates, who had long coveted the acreage as a crucial link in the Backbone Trail Corridor that extends from Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades to Point Mugu State Park in Ventura County.

In the most recent proposal, developers were envisioning a 19-lot graded subdivision.

Opponents were shocked by the massive amount of grading that would have been required for the landscape, which is part of the Arroyo Sequit Watershed.

"With this purchase, a longstanding dream becomes a reality," Yaroslavsky said. "This is, without a doubt, one of the most significant acquisitions we’ve been able to make to preserve our precious mountain resources ..."

The property was purchased with voter-approved L.A. County Proposition A funds by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a joint-powers agency that includes the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Among its many features, the Little Sycamore Canyon parcel encompasses "one of the most mature riparian and oak woodlands and stream habitats in the Malibu Coastal Zone, including pools, waterfalls…and one of the few streams in Southern California supporting the steelhead trout," according to Yaroslavsky.

A journey on foot or by bicycle along the paved road that bisects the newly acquired parcel is a trek through quiet countryside, with views of the Pacific Ocean, rock formations and lushly-vegetated ridges.

Protecting this acreage from development also is a step toward viewshed protection. It now seems to be protected for future generations. Conservancy officials noted that absent the Little Sycamore purchase, six nearby lots would be more at risk for development as "ranchettes."

Yaroslavsky reports that the new parcel will eventually be incorporated into either the state or national park system.

It’s too early to predict how various park agencies will plot the future course of Little Sycamore Canyon.

While the acreage is located roughly in the vicinity of Arroyo Sequit and Circle X Ranch (National Park Service-maintained units of the SMMNRA) as well as ETZ Motorway, a ridge-crowning fire road popular with equestrians and mountain bicyclists and mentioned as a potential Backbone Trail link, connecting the patchwork of parcels comprising the SMMNRA with any truly smooth contiguity and cohesiveness will remain a challenge for park officials.

The good news is that the purchase "counts" as a local match that will "draw down" additional federal money and allow the National Park Service to purchase other Backbone Trail adjacent parcels.