L.A. Council Backs Extension of Mountain Park Conservancy

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to urge the state Legislature to extend the life of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy until 1990, now due to cease existence in July, 1986.

Perhaps more important to supporters of efforts to preserve the mountain range, the action was introduced by conservative Republican Hal Bernson, who represents the West Valley. Republican Gov. George Deukmejian last year threatened to veto legislation continuing authorization of the conservancy.

In the Legislature, the issue has usually seen a division along party lines, with Democrats supporting the conservancy and Republicans opposing it. Bernson has not been among the agency’s chief supporters. However, it has expanded its program to include buying land for trails in the Santa Susana Mountains in Bernson’s district.

Joseph T. Edmiston, the conservancy’s executive director, said the council’s support and Bernson’s in particular is “very beneficial, because Hal Bernson is known as one of the toughest, most fiscally conservative members of the council.”

The conservancy is a state agency created in 1980 by the Democratic-controlled Legislature with the support of then-Democratic Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. Its mission is to help the National Park Service acquire land for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Assemblyman Gray Davis (D-Sherman Oaks), who sponsored last year’s legislation, withdrew the provision that would have extended the life of the conservancy when Deukmejian said he wanted more time to consider.