The northern foothills and desert part of Los Angeles County covered by the Antelope Valley Group includes several units of the California State Park system. Perhaps the best known is the California Poppy Reserve in the western portion of the valley. Created in the 1970’s, the Reserve includes some of the best display areas for the state flower and an array of other plant and animal life of the high desert. However, the Reserve was only partially acquired and does not include some of the most critical areas directly adjacent to its current boundaries. Past efforts to add acreage have encountered a complex land ownership and sluggish bureaucracy. Stagnant development has kept these lands from significant impacts for some time, but a new surge in housing construction in established communities, as well as the proposed development of the new community of Centennial at the west end of the Antelope Valley, now put some urgency to the need to act. Both actual home building and the ORV recreational impact from more nearby residents will lead to permanent loss of much of the value of the unique area.

The Antelope Valley Group is working with other local groups in developing an inventory of these lands to document specific resources and ownership in a set of reports. They will include input from a number of local experts on botany and archaeology, as well as expert photography. They will provide the information needed to support future state and philanthropic efforts to finish protecting these fragile and increasingly threatened lands.