Equestrian center in for a ride

Ruth Gerson Equestrians will be able to camp out with their horses if the Ronald Reagan Equestrian Campground is completed as planned on a 7-acre parcel of land at Mulholland Highway and Cornell Road in Malibu Creek State Park.

A fundraising event for the future campground was held at the Mill Creek Equestrian Center in the Santa Monica Mountains on Sept. 26. The land was previously owned by former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy.

Equestrian Trails Inc. Corral 63 partnered with the California Department of Parks and Recreation and aims to raise about $3 million for the facility’s construction.

Although plans for the center are still in flux, the show of enthusiasm at the fundraiser demonstrated to officials that there is widespread support for the center, at least among horse owners in the area. But opponents says the campground is too big and will lead to further pollution of Malibu Creek.

Equestrian spokesperson Ruth Gerson said she was pleased that some 150 horse enthusiasts came to the fundraiser and offered donations. The affair also included a dressage exhibition and barbecue.

Gerson and park officials also believe several grant opportunities will be available through various state and federal agencies, including the National Park Service and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Gerson said the timing of the project couldn’t be better. In 2007 Congress passed a resolution commemorating Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday in April 2011.

“It’s a great project for (Congress) to get behind,” Gerson said.

Horse tales

Corey Walkey, owner of the Mill Creek center, shared stories at the fundraiser about her friendship with Reagan.

“I was very fortunate to have spent an enormous amount of time on the Reagan ranch,” Walkey told guests. “I love that piece of land as much as I love my place.”

Walkey says she struck up a friendship with Reagan when she was a teen in the 1960s. She said one day while driving with her mother, they came upon a large pasture filled with jumps.

“We had no idea who owned it, so we just drove in,” Walkey said.

The pasture was Reagan’s.

“He was nice and so pleased that somebody wanted to come and enjoy his place,” Walkey said. He invited Walkey to ride her horse at his ranch any time.

Walkey and Reagan forged a friendship, and Reagan would sometimes join her on rides. Walkey said she and Reagan returned from one ride and cooled off by lying down on the cinderblock and concrete tack room floor with their feet on the wall, where they just “chatted.”

“It was a wonderful time,” Walkey said. “I would love to see that ranch become something again.”

Gerson said she has been trying to bring an equestrian campground to the area for 32 years.

“We had the foresight, but what we really needed was perseverance,” Gerson said. “Equestrians are the most underserved visitors in the parkland.”

Visitors from across California and other states will be able to spend the night at the campsite and ride the 500-mile network of trails in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

According to a brochure, the area offers “unmatched horseback riding opportunities” for residents, who together own about 8,000 horses. The area will also be a used as an evacuation site for horses during wildfires.

According to Ron Schafer, superintendent of the California State Parks Angeles District, it will be the first California park system campground to be built in the last 20 years.

Mounting opposition

Colleen Holmes, president of Cornell Preservation Organization, said that while she supports the campground, she hopes it will be scaled back. She believes 75 campsites are too many and hopes the plan for individual fire pits is nixed in favor of one large one.

Holmes fears the campground might lead to more wildfires.

“God knows, we’re dry,” Holmes said.

And after the campground is built, opponents fear the increased animal waste will find its way into Malibu Creek

An Internet blog, www.savethemeadow.blogspot.com, features letters from people who are against the campground.

“This facility will mar the view for miles along a designated scenic highway,” one person wrote. “The fire pits of this facility are also a threat to public safety and will likely be the place the next Corral Canyon fire begins, wiping out hundreds of homes. The concentration of animal waste at this site will pollute an already polluted Malibu Creek watershed.”

Schafer, the state park superintendent, carries a different opinion.

“We will keep bad things from running into the creek,” he said.

The impact of horse waste will be minimized by installing landscape elements on the grounds designed to remove silt and pollutants from water runoff.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said horses are part of the culture of the Santa Monica Mountains and that the project is compatible with the environment.

“I am confident that it will be done right,” said Yaroslavsky, who pledged to try to make the campground “happen sooner rather than later.”