Local News in Brief : Park Completion Pledged

Under a thick-limbed sycamore at a federally owned ranch above Beverly Hills, a flock of politicians promised Monday to fight to get a substantial appropriation for the National Park Service to complete the stalled Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area project.

The project, which was to be a 100,000-acre network of preserves from Griffith Park to Point Mugu, is less than half finished, and key pieces of property have been lost to development.

At Franklin Canyon Ranch, Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles), Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and City Councilman Marvin Braude pledged their support to about 150 members of Save the Mountain Park, a group that included representatives of environmental organizations, mountain bike enthusiasts and a sixth-grade class from Huntington Park. The coalition would like to see a park of about 90,000 acres, but Park Service Director William Penn Mott Jr. has suggested scaling back such ambitious plans because land prices have skyrocketed.

Elissa L. Weil, administrative assistant to Rep. Mel Levine (D-Los Angeles), said Levine will battle any effort “to reduce the amount of parkland we would ultimately acquire.” Levine is a member of the House Interior Committee.