Region's
Open Spaces Worth Fighting For
Congress interested in protecting Valley mountains as urban park
By Adam B. Schiff and Dianne Feinstein
Published in the Los Angeles Daily News
Sunday, March 30, 2003 -
Aquarter of a century ago, members of Congress recognized the tremendous
potential for population growth in Southern California.
They saw a burgeoning Los Angeles County with millions of new residents flocking
to the area to participate in the growing economy, to enjoy the sunny weather,
and to be surrounded by the natural beauty of the mountains, forests and
ocean.
They understood also that many of the open spaces would be developed, homes
would push up into the hills and a tremendous strain would be placed on the
region's resources.
And so they established the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area,
the largest urban park in the nation. This recreation area has served our
region well, providing breathtaking vistas, extensive hiking trails and a
home for
one of the most endangered habitat areas in the world -- the Mediterranean
Chaparral ecosystem, found only here and in South Africa. This rare habitat
and wildlife corridor is teeming with a greater diversity of life than all
others but a rain forest.
Over the past two decades, population growth has exceeded all expectation.
Development in Ventura, San Fernando and San Gabriel continues at a remarkable
pace, and our region now has one of the lowest ratios of park-and-recreation
lands per thousand of the population of any area in the nation.
Unless action is taken soon -- unless we can display the same vision of
that earlier period -- we will lose the treasure of California's open
space and
environmental beauty.
That is why we have introduced the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act,
a measure which would call on the National Park Service and the U.S.
Forest Service
to study the potential doubling of the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation
Area to include the Rim of the Valley.
The Rim of the Valley consists of parts of the Santa Monica Mountains,
the Santa Susana Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains, the Verdugo
Mountains, the San Rafael Hills and adjacent connector areas to the Los
Padres and
San
Bernardino
national forests.
Our bill would improve efforts to preserve fragile ecosystems and wildlife,
and maintain open space for the 10 million residents of Greater Los
Angeles to enjoy.
The study would take three years to complete, and would include extensive
public comment and input from the entire region. Subsequent legislation
would be required
by Congress to implement any of the recommendations of the study.
Because the study would determine whether some or all of the Rim
of the Valley should be included in the existing recreation area,
and
the recreation
area
has no power of condemnation or eminent domain, any increases to
the public lands in the expanded park would have to come from willing
sellers.
These lands could be brought within public protection through the
use of voluntary incentives, respecting at all times the legitimate
private
property
values
of existing landowners.
Since the establishment of the existing park in 1978, federal,
state and local authorities have worked in extraordinary cooperation
to
manage these
resources
and have successfully partnered with the private sector.
The state of California has been a significant player in efforts
to preserve the Rim of the Valley, and has adopted a Rim of
the Valley Master Plan.
Working with local governments in the area, the Santa Monica
Mountains Conservancy (a state agency) has endeavored to protect
the unique
natural and recreational
resources in the area.
However, these efforts are hampered by a lack of financial
resources, technical assistance and resource-management expertise
that can
be provided by the
federal government.
Recently, the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act came before
the Senate Resources Committee and passed with strong bipartisan
support.
In the House, the bill
is co-sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, Brad Sherman, David Dreier, Howard "Buck" McKeon,
Hilda Solis and others. The National Park Service testified
in favor of the measure, and we are working to speed
its passage in both houses.
A quarter of a century from now, we hope Angelenos will look
back and recognize our time as one in which we provided
a vision for
the future.
The Rim of the Valley Corridor encircling the San Fernando
and La Crescenta valleys provides important scenic, environmental,
recreational,
educational,
scientific and economic benefits to the greater Southern
California area and must be preserved for the benefit
of future generations.
Adam B. Schiff is a Democratic congressman from Pasadena.
Dianne Feinstein is a Democratic U.S. senator from California.