Trees Face Test of Time : Environmentalists Lobby to Protect Rare Forest of Tecate Cypresses

Seedlings, some only a couple of inches tall, are sprouting in parts of a rare forest of Tecate cypress trees in fenced-off wilderness canyons in the extreme northeast corner of Orange County.

Shaped like perfect little Christmas trees, they are growing brave and straight and green in reddish soil that is little more than finely crushed rock.

Cones and fragments of bark have been found at La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, indicating that they grew that far north about 30,000 years ago. But now the Orange County stand marks their northern limit, and there are some of the trees at sites in San Diego County and at Tecate Mountain, near the Mexican border town of Tecate.

There’s a Big ‘If’

If the seedlings live a few more years, they will begin to show some of the characteristics of the full-grown Tecate cypresses--peeling bark similar to a eucalyptus tree, the rounded shape of a live oak tree, mahogany-colored wood and round cones with seams that make them look like miniature soccer balls. These identifiable traits are hallmarks of a species that is believed to have been in Southern California and parts of Mexico for many thousands of years.

But for the little seedlings, there’s a big “if.”

“The 1,000 acres of Tecates in Coal, Fremont and Gypsum canyons seem to exist in a world forgotten by time,” said Connie Spenger of the Sea and Sage Chapter of the National Audubon Society. “But time is catching up, and the environment in the canyons, which is too fragile even for use as a public park, could become the site of a county dump, a jail, roads or housing developments.”

Spenger said that, although the Orange County cypresses were discovered in the 1870s, “we didn’t really become aware of them until 1982 when there was talk of building a shooting range there for the Olympics.”

The range never was constructed and now the Audubon Society, the Sierra Club and other conservation organizations are campaigning for protection not only of the Tecate cypresses, but of all the associated plants and wildlife in the three canyons that are just south of the Riverside Freeway and very close to the Riverside County line.

Spenger and Gordon Ruser, a member of Audubon and the Sierra Club, are pinning some hopes on the state Department of Parks and Recreation. They would like to see the department acquire the 1,000 acres of trees plus a buffer zone to protect them and the creatures that live there.

Operate Site as a Preserve

“There are mountain lions, deer, golden eagles and many others in those canyons where people rarely go,” Ruser said. “We think it could be operated in the form of a preserve where the public could be taken on guided tours and shown such things as the world’s largest Tecate cypress--35 feet tall--and the world’s oldest one, 200 years, both in Coal Canyon.”

In addition to the natural attractions, he said, there are such historic items as the remains of a coal mine and a settler’s cabin.

DeRoy Jensen, property analyst in the Parks and Recreation planning division, said the Tecate forest qualifies as “acceptable property” for a preserve, “although statewide it might not rank high enough for early acquisition.”

He said he had no idea of the value of the property, part of which belongs to the Clevepak Corp., a heating and air conditioning manufacturer based in New York, and part to the Irvine Co.

Orange County is not considering the property as a regional park, but, according to Eric Jessen, chief of program planning for the county Environmental Management Agency, the land does appear on master plan maps for acquisition as open space under certain circumstances.

“Theoretically, if a development took place near the mouth of Coal Canyon, for example, that could trigger the county to acquire open space farther in the canyon where some of the trees are,” he said. But, he said, it is doubtful “if that would be sufficient protection” for the environment.

Possible Jail Site

Meanwhile, Bill Olson, manager of environmental and special projects in the EMA’s planning division, said a consultant has been hired to make preliminary studies of the canyons as a site for a badly needed county jail. He said the Gypsum-Coal Canyon location is one of eight general county areas being considered for the jail.

“Any possible development there or somewhere else must go through lengthy processes, including environmental impact reports, public hearings and such, so it’s all pretty much in the future,” Olson said, “and choosing of a public dump site is even farther off.”

Spenger, Ruser and others are far from giving up their efforts to assure a future for the Tecate cypresses--along with the other plants and animals--and the small seedlings that have sprouted since a 1982 wildfire swept through Gypsum Canyon.

“I’ve been told that the next state park bonds (for acquisitions) will be issued in 1988,” Spenger said. “That’ll be our target date.”