Environmentalists’ 19-Year Drive to Increase Holdings : State Plans to Buy Land Next to Chatsworth Park

State park officials announced this week that they plan to purchase more than 400 acres in the Santa Susana Pass west of Chatsworth, culminating 19 years of organizing and lobbying by environmentalists from the western San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley.

The purchase would add 428 acres to about 400 acres of other state-owned land and sets the stage for the elevation of the area to a full-fledged state park, complete with rangers and public recreation facilities.

Jan Hinkston, a member of the Santa Susana Mountain Park Assn., said the announcement by the state Department of Parks and Recreation made nearly two decades of letter writing and lobbying worthwhile.

The land would be purchased with funds provided by Proposition 70, a $776-million statewide bond measure for parks approved by voters in 1988.

Plans to purchase the Santa Susana Pass property were announced during two public hearings attended by more than 350 people in Saugus and Simi Valley on Wednesday and Thursday.

The plans were a setback, however, to wildlife groups that hoped that most of the Proposition 70 funds would be used to start a 6,000-acre state park in a heavily wooded region between Porter Ranch and the Santa Clarita Valley.

Best Use of Funds

While there is a chance that the Department of Parks and Recreation could be persuaded to spend the money elsewhere, department officials believe that the money will best be spent in the Santa Susana Pass, said Ken Collier, a project manager for the department.

The final decision will be made by Henry R. Agonia, director of the parks department.

Collier said the Santa Susana Pass property, which is privately owned, could cost as much as $5 million.

The 428 acres is next to Chatsworth Park, which is operated by the city of Los Angeles. The Santa Susana Pass property includes exotic plant species, unusual rock formations and the remains of a stagecoach trail, he said.

The money not spent in the Santa Susana Mountains would be turned over to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state-mandated agency that buys parkland in the region, Collier said.

Sonia Thompson, a senior analyst with the conservancy, said the organization wants to use the funds to start purchasing land for the proposed Santa Clarita Woodlands State Park.

“We will be working with those landowners soon,” Thompson said.

There are no formal estimates for the woodlands property, but Collier said the land could be worth at least $24 million.

About 30 different landowners hold title to portions of the property, he said.

Don Mullally, an environmentalist who has spearheaded efforts to create the woodlands park, urged the department and conservancy to act quickly before developers overrun the area.

Mullally also urged park proponents to support a bill by state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) that would require the Parks and Recreation Department to perform a feasibility study on the woodlands site.

Only about 1,000 acres of the proposed woodlands park now qualify for Proposition 70 funds.

Another bill by Davis, also endorsed by Mullally, would make the entire woodlands eligible for Proposition 70 funds.