1,200 Nature Lovers Take a Hike to Press Call for More Parkland

More than a thousand nature lovers--including barefoot hippies, mounted cowboys and heavy-breathing runners, invaded the hills above Malibu on Sunday, hoping to persuade their leaders and neighbors of the need for more parkland near urban areas.

Sponsored by a number of conservationist groups, including the Santa Monica Mountains Parkland Assn., supporters said the Los Angeles “March for Parks” was expected to be the largest in the nation.

Dozens of other large cities staged similar walks nationwide Sunday to raise money for acquisition of parklands.

Locally, nearly 1,200 people set off on the winding trails of Malibu Creek State Park seeking a brief respite from the hum and hustle of the crowded city before arriving at Paramount Ranch five miles away, where music and demonstrations awaited.

The National Parks and Conservation Assn. also took the opportunity to recruit walkers and solicit money for its efforts to set aside more parkland.

“This out here, in nature, is the real life on our planet. It doesn’t exist in the frenzied, chaotic world of the city that we created,” said Ronn Hayes, a Malibu conservation activist who was master of ceremonies for the program.

“With all the despair in the inner city, we need to make sure we have this land for people to re-touch nature,” he said.

As the noontime sun burned gauzy fog off the rugged hilltops in Malibu Canyon, the dirt trails twisting through scrub oaks were alive with motion: horseback riders, speeding mountain bicycles and parents with strollers crisscrossed on a maze of trails.

But even as cottontail rabbits dodged into the brush and bird watchers watched the creek bed hoping for a glimpse of a rare Eurasian widgeon, the business of the city was all to close at hand for some participants.

“Damn!” gasped one man as he ran back toward the parking lot where the walk began. “My beeper just went off!”

The meeting place between the urban and the wild was apparent as a group of horseback riders warned two boys on bicycles to slow down before racing behind the horses in a cloud of dust.

“As long as people are ecologically concerned, I am all for having everybody come see this beautiful place,” said Hidden Hills resident Ed Berliner, perched atop a patient paint horse. “It is nice to come out here without running into a lot of concrete and fences.”

For many, the lazy creeks and steep hillsides above Malibu reminded them that development is gradually swallowing much of the open space around Los Angeles.

“It is all being used up so fast. It’s hard to see this land go down the tubes,” said Malibu resident Douglas Rucker, listening to a folk singer after completing the five-mile walk. “Today is a celebration of the land, but it is also a funeral. I hope this makes people more aware of the value of this land.”