Services Today for Naturalist Albert J. Hoyt

Graveside services for Albert J. Hoyt, a director of the Topanga-Las Virgenes Resource Conservation District and a former Topanga postmaster, will be held today in Chatsworth.

Hoyt died Thursday in a Van Nuys hospital after suffering a heart attack. He was 69.

A naturalist who was widely known for his study of wildlife and vegetation in the Topanga Canyon area, Hoyt helped create the conservation district in 1961. He was elected as a founding director of the agency with Ronald Reagan, then an Agoura rancher who was running in his first election.

During Hoyt’s tenure as a director, the conservation district became nationally recognized for its brush fire and flood prevention work in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Started Conservation Library

Hoyt’s personal projects--including creation of a 3,000-book library on conservation techniques and topics--won numerous awards for himself and the district, Elizabeth Douphner, the conservation district’s clerk, said Tuesday.

Hoyt was postmaster of the mountain community from 1965 to 1985. A resident of the canyon since the mid-1950s, he was active with the Topanga Historical Society, the Old Topanga Community Improvement Assn., Topanga Lion’s Club and Topanga School-Community Advisory Council.

He also had been a political science teacher at University High School in West Los Angeles and at USC, Douphner said.

Today’s services will be at 2 p.m. in Oakwood Memorial Park, 22601 Lassen St., Chatsworth. A memorial service will be held Sept. 14 at 10 a.m. in Topanga State Park, 20825 Entrada Rd., according to the district.

The remaining four board members will appoint a replacement to Hoyt’s conservation district seat, which has another 28 months to run, Douphner said.

Hoyt, who never married, is survived by his stepmother, Mildred Hoyt of Kathy’s Valley, Calif.