Environment : Notes about your surroundings.

Tecate Update--A group of residents working to protect a rare grove of Tecate cypress trees in the northeast corner of Orange County is closely watching the county’s efforts to find a new landfill site.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to act Wednesday on a staff recommendation to cut the list of potential sites to three, with Gypsum Canyon among the finalists (see Briefing, above). According to Gordon Ruser, treasurer of Friends of the Tecate Cypress, the proposed dump could eventually, under one plan, wipe out 200 to 300 acres of the total 1,000 acres of the trees. The county jail proposed for Gypsum Canyon would, by contrast, affect about seven acres of trees.

Connie Spenger, president of the Friends group, said the county has been working with an outdated map of the area that does not show the full extent of the Tecate cypress grove. She plans to deliver an updated map to the county on Monday.

The isolated Orange County groves, now found in portions of Gypsum, Coal and Fremont canyons near the Riverside Freeway, mark the northern limit of the species’ range. There are also some trees at sites in San Diego County and at Tecate Mountain, near the Mexican border town of Tecate. The tree is classified as rare by the California Native Plant Society and will be considered for threatened status by the state later this month.

The trees also help support a variety of wildlife, including four plants that are under consideration for federal endangered species status--the heart-leaved pitcher sage, dense reed-grass, Braunton’s milk-vetch and many-stemmed dudleya--along with the coast horned lizard, also a candidate for endangered listing.

Elsewhere on the Tecate front, negotiations continue for the purchase of the so-called Coal Canyon property with $4 million provided by last year’s passage of Proposition 70, a park bond measure. The property, which comprises sections of Gypsum, Coal and Fremont canyons, would include about half the total Tecate cypress trees and some buffer land. Spenger said the purchase should be completed some time early next year.

The sensitive property would be maintained as an ecological reserve and would not be developed, except for some possible informational displays. Hiking and equestrian activities would probably be allowed.

Events--Oak Canyon Nature Center in Anaheim Hills focuses on birds Saturday, with an 8 a.m. guided bird walk followed by a 10 a.m. program. “Chaparral: Awaiting the Rains” is the title of the program planned for the nature center for 10 a.m. on Aug. 26. For information on either event, call (714) 998-8380.