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For more information on Tejon Ranch click http://www.savetejonranch.org
Condos for a Few or Conservation for Allby Katherine Squires, Leah Russin We have a rare opportunity to preserve one of the most valuable unprotected natural resources in the state. Tejon Ranch, the largest contiguous privately owned portion of land left in California is now targeted to become the largest sprawling development in the history of planning in Los Angeles County. Tejon “stands as the crowning jewel of a region that is globally recognized for its extraordinary diversity of life” (Center for Biological Diversity). Just forty miles north of Los Angeles, Tejon Ranch, is a 270,750-acre working ranch. It is near the Grapevine (Interstate 5), nestled in the Tehachapi Mountains (Kern and Los Angeles Counties). Although it has been left primarily as wilderness, its current owners, the Tejon Ranch Company, have a plan to carve it into subdivisions and planned communities, separating miles and miles of rare and unbroken habitat for the California condor, putting it and other endangered species at risk. 23,000 homes and 13.5 million square feet of land are being proposed for development. The proposed Centennial development (1 of 3 proposed developments) is the largest housing development ever proposed in California (Center for Biological Diversity).
What the Sierra Club advocates and why? In collaboration with many other environmental organizations (including Center for Biological Diversity, Endangered Habitats League, National Resources Defense Council and Planning and Conservation League), the Sierra Club is working to promote a state or national park on 246,000 acres of the property. Currently, Tejon Ranch Company has proposed 100,000 acres of the land as a reserve. However, much of their proposal consists of land they cannot economically develop, and would likely remain open space anyway. Additionally, parts of it are inaccessible, and thus less attractive as a public park. Their attempt to appease environmentalists falls short because the parcels of land they have proposed as open space are discontinuous – wildlife corridors will be broken, and migration paths disrupted. The plan put forth by the Sierra Club and allies would create a national or state park that would allow endangered species to retain their habitat in its current form – a largely unpolluted, natural, and pristine environment. Also, the park would preserve scenic vistas, reduce traffic, maintain healthy watersheds, and protect the many historical and cultural sites on the property, and allow for more low-impact public use of space. A “new Tejon state/national park will offer an arc of protection from the Sierra to the sea—and recreational opportunities that are just as dynamic” (Center for Biological Diversity).
What is Tejon Ranch? Founded in the late 1800's with Mexican land grants, Tejon remains untouched in many areas as it was then. With elevation ranging from 600 to 7,000 feet above sea level, its hills and valleys provide habitat for 80 imperiled species including many endangered species. Some of the varied wildlife that can be found on the ranch include: California condors, Burrowing owls, elk, Pronghorn antelope, bear, and mountain lions. In years past, the ranch has profited from its wildlife by providing guided game hunting. In fact, the Center for Biological Diversity reported that “the company has filed suit in federal court to try to eliminate protections for the California condor and limit the condor reintroduction program. In February of 2003, a hunter illegally shot and killed a reintroduced condor on Tejon Ranch during a hunt sponsored by the ranch.” According to the Declaration On the Conservation Significance of Tejon Ranch, a letter signed by scientists in support of a larger preserve design, approximately $40 million of public money has been spent on conservation efforts on behalf of the California condor. Given these statistics, which signal overwhelming public support for the conservation of endangered species, and the enormous investment the American public has made towards the conservation of condors, the destruction of habitat that is probably essential to the recovery of the endangered California condor cannot be justified.”
What are the current threats to Tejon? The threat to the precious resources and endangered animals on the property come from the three separate city-sized proposed developments on the land, including a “Mountain Village” (luxury vacation homes located in critical California Condor habitat), and Centennial, a housing development. The Centennial development is located in a native grassland area of Los Angeles County. Native grasslands (habitat to a wide range of species) are a rarity in Southern California although they were once the staple of the West. Combined, these proposed developments would be the largest sprawl development in the history of planning in Los Angeles county. The unprecedented scale of development that has been proposed demonstrates the thoughtless disregard of the biological diversity in the area. In fact, Tejon Ranch is on the list of the top twenty-five hotspots for biological diversity on our planet (Center for Biological Diversity). Tejon Ranch is a very unique area because it is the only place where four ecoregions meet: Sierra Nevada, Great Central Valley, Mojave Desert, and Coast Ranges. In other words, Tejon is the heart of native California. Tejon has the most diverse oak communities (elsewhere in the state, oak communities are imperiled due to disease and encroaching development) and is a biological corridor for wildlife in the Sequoia and Los Padres National Forests. Tejon harbors some of the oldest and largest oak trees in California. Incredibly, it also hosts giant sycamores and Joshua trees—creating a landscape like no other. (Center for Biological Diversity)
Other issues The Tejon property is unfit for this sprawl development for a plethora of reasons, in addition to the obvious and immediate environmental degradation. These include the fact that the property straddles the San Andreas Fault, an active plate boundary where two plates collide. The United States Geological Survey reports a Magnitude 7.9 earthquake through the heart of the Ranch on January 9, 1857. This fault is active and overdue for another major earthquake. Building homes on this land is unconceivable. The proposed development would also drastically worsen the air quality in the surrounding areas. The traffic from trucks alone would be detrimental to communities along Interstate 5, such as Bakersfield and Santa Clarita. Overall, traffic and air quality would worsen along Interstate 5, Highway 14, Highway 138, and Highway 58. The infrastructure cannot support the proposed large-scale developments that the Tejon Ranch Company sees fit to implement. Comprehensive land-use planning is needed for this keystone property, which is surrounded by growing metropolitan and agricultural areas—the Los Angeles basin, Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley, Tehachapi and Cummings valleys in the Tehachapi Mountains, and Antelope Valley of the Mojave Desert. (Declaration On the Conservation Significance of Tejon Ranch) Despite the recognized need for a better understanding of this project and its impacts, Tejon Ranch Company has refused to completely disclose its information. The Company refuses to reveal their long-term plans. They also refuse to share data on wildlife and plant species.
What you can do? To learn more and to become involved with our efforts, contact Jennifer Robinson, Conservation Program Coordinator at 213-387-4287 x204 or jennifer.robinson@sierraclub.org). Mark your calendars for Oct. 13th-14 th for a car camp near Tejon Ranch. This outing will provide views of terrain similar to the Tejon Ranch property. The outing will provide an opportunity to learn more about Tejon and to see its resources up close. For more information please contact Kent Scwitkis at schwitkii@earthlink.net.
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