Irvine Co. Doesn’t Want Runners Feeling at Home on Its Range : Off limits: Much of land is behind barbed wire, but company is studying ways to open 19,000 acres for public use.

There is a particular trail, nestled in the hills, that offers nearly everything a runner could want.

Challenging and remote, this trail is filled with the fragrance of elderberry bushes, shaded by steep hillsides and populated by birds, rabbits, even an occasional mule deer.

It would be a runner’s paradise if it weren’t for one major problem . . . It’s private property.

Owned and operated by the Irvine Co., this land is not your land. And violators, as the sign on the barbed-wire fence states, will be prosecuted.

Despite the signs, the fences and the realization that they are breaking the law, some runners continue to run on Irvine Co. land, as they have done for many years.

“I’m going to keep going over the fence and keep getting thrown off, but I really hope that someday they open it,” said one local runner, who asked not to be identified.

Others just wait and hope that someday the Irvine Co. will loosen its stance and open its gates.

“It is private property,” said company spokesperson Dawn McCormick. “We can’t just open it up for runners because of the overriding danger (of) liability. . . .

“Also, there’s the (possibility of) danger to the environment. The wildlife could be harmed from unsupervised use of land.”

Still, as McCormick pointed out, the Irvine Co. did announce in April that it is studying ways to open approximately 19,000 acres of company land for public use.

One such parcel expected to open earlier than most is Limestone Canyon, a gorgeous piece of bucolic land in eastern Orange County.

“We’re just in the planning stages on this subject, though,” said Mike Stockstill, senior director of corporate communications for the Irvine Co., last month.

“The plan is to set a deadline by next year (for) when the first fences come down,” Stockstill said of the Limestone Canyon opening. “The chairman (Irvine Co. chairman Donald Bren) clearly wants this to happen. We’re reminded of it quite often.”

Until then, runners--along with mountain bikers, hikers, etc.--are not allowed on the land. Trespassers are subject to arrest, but most, if caught, receive a stern warning and are shown off the property.

“I can’t see the off-road runner in his running shorts hurting somebody out there,” said Bill Sumner of Laguna Hills. “I think they should open it up. The only way we get hurt is by jumping that darn fence.”