ORANGE COUNTY VOICES : Laguna Canyon Isn’t Rescued Yet : Laguna Beach voters will do their part by passing a bond measure, but the area belongs to all Orange County residents, and their help will be needed.

“Everywhere the white man has touched the earth, it is sore.” The words of a holy old Wintu woman reverberated in my mind a few days ago as I drove down the hill in the bright blue sun of October. I was wondering how to communicate the value of preserving Laguna Canyon as open space.

Suddenly, unbelievably, a deer ran down the road ahead of me, its hooves striking the hard macadam, its knobby legs bouncing gingerly. The deer turned into a side street leading to a lush arroyo and disappeared.

You see, some of the recent headlines have been misleading. Laguna Canyon isn’t saved yet.

The city of Laguna Beach has reached a historic agreement with the Irvine Co. to buy the Laguna Laurel area of the canyon, which is scheduled for residential and commercial development, for $78 million. The first payment of $33 million is due June 30, 1991. The payment plan stretches over five years with $3 million due in 1992, $4 million in 1993, $5 million in 1994 and a balloon payment of $33 million in 1995. No interest will be charged, but each payment after the first is subject to a consumer price index adjustment capped at 5%.

Laguna Beach voters will be the first to have their say. On Nov. 6, they will vote up or down on Measure H, the $20-million, 20-year general obligation bond proposal that will be the crucial first step in the purchase of the canyon land. It will cost the average homeowner an average of $59 a year for 20 years.

More than merely providing the $20 million, approval of Measure H is also the prerequisite for funding from other sources.

I am confident Measure H will win. Some people will vote yes out of love for Laguna Canyon, pure and simple. Others will vote yes because it means 36,000 fewer car trips per day on Laguna Canyon Road, or because such irreplaceable open space will improve the quality of life, and, oh yes, property values.

But how can a city of 25,000 people with an annual budget of $25 million take on a $78-million obligation? With faith, hope and help from our friends. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “What we have before us is an insurmountable opportunity.”

This is not just Laguna’s canyon. Laguna Canyon belongs to the people of Orange County and the people of California just as surely as it belonged to the Gabrieleno Indians long before Spanish land grants. Just as surely as it belonged to that holy, old Wintu woman.

The people of Orange County feel ownership in the canyon. In a poll last June, 55% said they would tax themselves to buy Laguna Canyon. Knowing this, the Orange County Board of Supervisors endorsed the acquisition program, allocating $2 million a year for the next five years from funds available only for the purchase of open space. The parks division has agreed to supervise the area as a regional wilderness park.

An important part of the purchase agreement is the commitment of the city, the county, the Irvine Co. and members of the Laguna Laurel Advisory Group to work together to secure state, federal and private funding. With such a team, how can we lose?

We will be looking for funding from the recently passed mountain lion initiative and cigarette tax. We encourage a yes vote on state Proposition 149, the California Park, Recreation and Wildlife Enhancement Act of 1990. And we look to the people of Orange County and others to contribute as private citizens.

What will you and I get for our money? We will have access to the land, a wilderness park that preserves our natural heritage and the wildlife habitat. The sandstone caves, lakes, hundred-years-old oaks and sycamores, and lush canyons will be accessible on roads that already exist. We will be able to get away from it all without driving to Mammoth or Yosemite. We will buy cleaner air and the freedom from 36,000 additional cars per day on Laguna Canyon Road.

Most of all we will know that we left a legacy for our children and all who come after--a priceless heritage. The deer born in Laguna Canyon in the future will not have to pound the pavement in their search for food.