Marching for Parks : Outdoors: Across the nation, people will travel trails to show support for the preservation and enhancement of precious open spaces.

Next weekend, thousands of Americans united in a common cause will cycle along scenic paths, walk, hike and jog for a worthy cause.

Their goal: to raise public consciousness and funds for the protection of America’s great outdoors.

The first annual “March for Parks,” an event set for March 24-25 and sponsored by the National Parks and Conservation Assn., will offer those who value open spaces, urban greenbelts, parks and wildlife preserves the chance to demonstrate their support.

“March for Parks provides people who love America’s natural beauty with a tangible opportunity to demonstrate their support,” said Paul C. Pritchard, president of the National Parks and Conservation Assn.

In Anchorage, Alaska; Chicago; Seattle; St. Louis; Sarasota, Fla., and many other cities, nature lovers and conservationists will be afoot and afield. The Washington, DC.-based association estimates that more than 200 marches will take place across the nation. For example:

* In Massachusetts, marchers will raise funds to restore Walden Pond, which is being engulfed by Concord and is no longer a place that would inspire Henry David Thoreau.

* In Idaho, marchers will rally around Craters of the Moon National Monument to gather support for a proposal to increase the monument’s size and upgrade it to national park status.

* On Long Island, marchers will walk around Oyster Bay to raise funds to repair President Theodore Roosevelt’s home.

* Colorado’s Friends of the Fossil Beds will raise funds to protect the state’s prehistoric record.

* In Baltimore, people are expected to march on Ft. McHenry, scene of “the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,” which inspired Francis Scott Key to compose our National Anthem.

National environmental objectives, said Pritchard, depend on grass-roots support.

“As a nation, we are becoming more sensitive to what we have, what we’ve lost and what we must save,” he said. “As citizens, each of us is searching for ways to reach out and care for our fragile surroundings.”

In Southern California, marchers from the San Fernando Valley to Newport Beach will participate in the March for Parks. In fact, association officials predict that the nation’s best-attended walk will be in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. More than 2,000 marchers are expected.

“We think the Santa Monica Mountains represent one of the most important places to preserve in the country,” said Ruth Kilday, chairwoman of the Santa Monica Mountains Parkland Assn., which is sponsoring the march. “They’re a near-wilderness within reach of 16 million people.”

Kilday said the march will begin in Malibu Creek State Park and conclude at Paramount Ranch, a national park service property. Aerobics instructors will warm up walkers, and park docents will interpret the natural history of Malibu Creek and point out the many locales used in movies and television shows. Film celebrities and state politicians are expected to join hikers, cyclists and equestrians.

The Santa Monica Mountains are the only relatively undeveloped mountain range in the United States bisecting a major metropolitan area. Yet, said Kilday, many Southern Californians are unaware of their recreation potential or the development dangers facing them.

“Everyone will have a good time, but we want this to be more than a walk in the park. We want this to be a kickoff to Earth Day (April 22) and we want a little consciousness-raising to take place,” she said.

Other Southland marches, on a smaller scale, are expected to draw from 100 to 500 people.

Perhaps the smallest park hosting a march will be Hollywood’s De Longpre Park, within walking distance of Sunset and Vine. Hollywood march organizer Debbie Wehbe believes greenery, not just glitter, should be part of Hollywood.

“Hollywood is park-poor,” Wehbe said. “We’re known as a hot area--too much cement, too few trees.”

Wehbe hopes her loose coalition of private, public and parochial schoolchildren, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, and neighborhood and anti-crime groups will “cool down” hot Hollywood by marching around residential streets and planting trees.

In Glendale, SWAP (Small Wilderness Area Preservation) will sponsor an event in the Verdugo Mountains. Walkers will learn how SWAP helped secure La Tuna Canyon and find out how to protect Big Tujunga Wash.

Another park march will take place beneath the boughs of the ancient oaks in Cheeseboro Canyon, a bit of Old California on the western rim of San Fernando Valley.

Though parts of the canyon are protected by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, other parts and much of the surrounding countryside may be subdivided and paved. If pro-development forces have their way, the last wildlife corridor connecting the Santa Monica Mountains to the open lands of the north will become part of a four-lane highway.

“Our walk through the canyon is an environmental walk,” said march organizer Mary Wiesbrock. “Cheeseboro Canyon is in immediate danger of being destroyed. Allowing a developer and a highway in this canyon is a political scandal. We want walkers--and our elected officials--to know about it.”

In Southern California, there’s a march scheduled for every inclination, whether walkers want to save trees or stroll by them, learn about ecology or just get some exercise.

“We want to get the ‘Decade of the Environment’ off to a good start,” said Kilday. “Let’s get marching and show we care.”

“March for Parks” events are sponsored by the National Parks and Conservation Assn. and local conservation and civic groups.

Monies collected at the marches will be split 50-50 between the national organization and local groups.

Unlike traditional walk-a-thons, the walks require neither an entrance fee nor a pledge per mile. Marchers for the parks are encouraged to donate at the time of the event or use donation envelopes provided.

If you want to march in a locale outside Southern California, or would like additional information on March for Parks, call the National Parks and Conservation Assn., (800) 225-WALK.

Scheduled marches in Southern California include:

Agoura/Cheeseboro Canyon

The march to save Cheeseboro Canyon will be sponsored by the California Native Plant Society, Save Open Space, Save Mountain Parks Coalition and the Wilderness Institute. The march will begin at 10 a.m. March 24, with a “celebrity send-off” by Dick Van Dyke.

Marchers may choose to meander a short way through the canyon or hike a 9-mile loop through the whole canyon. Hike leaders will lead differently paced hikes. Since the canyon is wheelchair-accessible, people in wheelchairs are encouraged to join.

At noon, a mountain bike ride will be held, and horse riders will tour the canyon at 2 p.m.

Cheeseboro Canyon, a national park service property, is off the Ventura Freeway in Agoura. Take the Chesebro Road exit.

For information, call the Wilderness Institute, (818) 991-7327.

Cypress

On March 24, the Cypress Recreation and Park District and the nonprofit group Friends of Cypress Recreation and Parks will host a walk to fund tree plantings, environmental education projects and cultural/historical preservation programs.

The march will begin at Cypress Cultural Arts Center (Orange Avenue and Grindlay Street) at 10 a.m. The march loop is 1 1/2 miles long and will include Evergreen Park. March for Parks T-shirts will be given to the first 300 marchers. Environmental displays and booths will also be featured.

For information, call Cypress Recreation and Parks District, (714) 229-6780.

Hollywood

On March 24, a coalition of community groups will host a walk beginning at De Longpre Park at 10 a.m. Before the march, a tree-planting, with the assistance of TreePeople, will take place at 8:30 a.m. The aim of the walk is to raise money for trees. Marchers will walk an hour or so through the nearby residential area and identify potential tree-planting sites. For information, call Little Red School House, (213) 465-1320.

Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley/Santa Monica Mountains

On March 25 at 10 a.m., walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders will assemble at Malibu Creek State Park to raise money for park programs in the Santa Monica Mountains. One of these programs is completion of the Backbone Trail, which will stretch 65 miles from Will Rogers State Historic Park to Point Mugu State Park and link the scattered beauties of the Santa Monica Mountains. Marchers will walk part of this trail on the 4-mile path to Paramount Ranch, a Western movie town and national park service property.

A free shuttle service will transport marchers from Paramount Ranch back to the parking area at Malibu Creek State Park.

Mountain bicyclists and equestrians will pedal and ride different paths to Paramount Ranch.

To reach Malibu Creek State Park, exit the Ventura Freeway on Las Virgenes Road and continue 4 miles to the park entrance. From Pacific Coast Highway, turn inland on Malibu Canyon Road and proceed 6 1/2 miles to the park entrance.

Suggested donation at time of registration: adults $5; children 12 and under $1. For information, call (213) 471-6297 or (818) 597-1036.

Glendale, Tujunga, Verdugo Mountains

Marchers will assemble at Gov. Deukmejian Wilderness Park in Glendale for a 10-K (6.2-mile) walk, and to visit Big Tujunga Ponds Wildlife Sanctuary. This event is sponsored by SWAP (Small Wilderness Area Preservation), an organization that helps preserve greenbelts and open areas. Marchers will assemble at the intersection of Dunsmore Avenue and Markridge Road in Glendale at 10 a.m. March 25. Registration is at 9 a.m., and a free continental breakfast will be served. For information, call (818) 353-6947.

Pasadena

Arroyo Seco Council, a conservation organization, along with the City of Pasadena, will host a march March 24 at 9 a.m. Walkers will discover the rich natural history and storied past of the arroyo as they walk a trail into Angeles National Forest. The walk will benefit Arroyo ReLeaf, a tree-planting project. On hand will be the U.S. Forest Service with environmental education displays.

To reach the walk site, exit the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) in Pasadena on Windsor Avenue and head north to the entrance of the Jet Propulsion Lab.

For information, call (818) 792-2798.

Newport Beach/Bay

On March 24, at 11 a.m., the Environmental Activists Club will lead a march around part of Upper Newport Bay to raise funds for estuary restoration and wetlands issues. Marchers will assemble at Jamboree Road and East Bluff Drive. For information, call (714) 640-8293.