Rare Tecate Forest Preserved : Environment: A developer will sell nearly 1,000 acres to the state in a deal hailed as a major ecological victory.

In a deal hailed as a major ecological victory, an Orange County developer has agreed to sell to the state nearly 1,000 acres of expensive land in Coal Canyon that holds one of the last remaining Tecate cypress forests, a highly rare and vulnerable resource.

After a year of negotiations led by the Nature Conservancy, state wildlife officials said Friday that they will purchase the lush, steep-walled canyon property from Hon Development Co. for $4 million. The rare grove, which the company had planned to develop into 18 $1-million lots, will instead be turned into a state-protected nature preserve, called the Coal Canyon Ecological Reserve.

“The acquisition of the Tecate forest is one of the most important (ecological) purchases for Southern California in the last couple of years,” said Curt Taucher, spokesman for the regional office of the state Department of Fish and Game, which will receive the deed. “The trees are very rare and endangered, and this is one of the largest and best groves left.”

The $4 million will come from funds set aside for Coal Canyon in a wilderness-protection initiative passed by California voters in 1988.

A handful of north Orange County conservationists have been striving for nine years to put the Tecate grove--one of only four such forests left in the nation--in public ownership to stave off the developer’s plans.

“We’re absolutely thrilled. It’s wonderful that so much of the Tecate cypress are now preserved,” said Connie Spenger, president of Friends of Tecate Cypress, a group of only about half a dozen conservationists, who were assisted in the project by other environmental groups.

Officials with Hon Development, based in Laguna Hills, said Friday that they were pleased by the deal, which was negotiated on behalf of the state by the California branch of the Nature Conservancy, an international conservation group.

“It’s a diminishing resource and its preservation is a legitimate concern,” Hon vice president Michael Mohler said. “This seemed to me to be a classic situation of addressing the interests of both the public and private development. . . . We don’t look at it as a negative.”

Spenger called the forest “a world protected by time, but time has been catching up” because of encroaching development. The land, near a verdant, fertile part of the Santa Ana River, is brimming with wildlife, including mountain lions, bobcats, hawks and golden eagles.

“This purchase preserves some rare and beautiful and scenic trees with habitat for the largest and most spectacular wildlife found in Orange County and about half a dozen other rare species,” Spenger said. “It’s a great place for nature observation and just quiet recreation. And this deal leaves open space and fresh air instead of development and pollution.”

The Tecate trees, with bright green leaves and mahogany or cherry-colored bark, grow in thick groves, spreading like oaks on steep dry slopes and ridges below Sierra Peak in the Santa Ana Mountains.

The purchased land, in the foothills about 20 miles east of Anaheim, contains thousands of Tecate trees, including the largest one and the oldest one in the world, Spenger said. The oldest Tecate cypress is about two centuries old and grows on the rocky slopes of Fremont Canyon; the largest is a monarch with a 48-foot spread, 37-foot height and a trunk circumference of 8 feet.

Fish and Game officials said limited public access, including hiking and bike trails, is expected in the state reserve, although no firm plans have yet been made. Few people have seen the trees, because they grow on private land that has been accessible only by an equestrian trail and a narrow dirt road.

The state will receive 972 acres, of which 952 will be given to the state as soon as the deal is closed. The remaining 20 acres will be handed over within the next five years. The deal is expected to close in eight to 10 weeks.

The company had planned to divide the land into 18 estate-sized custom lots. Hon Development still plans to build other homes nearby, although there will be a buffer of at least 225 feet separating the development from the reserve, officials said.

The Nature Conservancy, known nationally for its skillful real-estate transactions to protect habitats of endangered species, will immediately hand the deed over to the Department of Fish and Game at the closing.

The land was appraised, using open space values, at $4.86 million, but state officials said it probably was worth more because of its development potential. The Nature Conservancy praised Hon Development for its cooperation.

“We consider it a substantial bargain because the state feels the property may be worth well in excess of $4.8 million,” said Scott Ferguson, California field representative at the Nature Conservancy’s office in San Francisco. Ferguson coordinated the negotiations.

Mohler said the land was worth closer to $20 million if developed, or about $1 million per custom lot.

“The price is substantially below market value even if appraised as open space,” he said, adding that the estate homes would have had “breathtaking, sweeping views with huge lots.”

Hon Development was willing to sell the land because it expects to be allowed to develop 600 to 700 adjacent acres in a proposed community to be called Cypress Canyon. That plan could be debated this summer.

Known as a “relic species,” Tecate cypress trees have existed for millions of years, but their range has severely declined, mostly because of Southern California development. They grow primarily in moist, north-facing slopes. Most of the trees in Coal Canyon are less than 40 years old, since a fire in 1948 destroyed 90% of the forest.

“It is a globally rare species that is found only in four locations in the United States, and this is the northernmost stand and second largest stand,” Ferguson said.

Spenger is urging Hon Development to protect more of the nearby property targeted for development. The land contains only a few acres of the trees, but she said developing surrounding acreage could alter the hydrology of the area. It also is home to other rare plants. Mohler said the company is working with Spenger to accommodate some of the needs of wildlife in the area.

The major remaining obstacle to preserving Tecate cypress in Orange County is to persuade the Irvine Co. to protect the other half of the grove on about 900 acres of adjacent land it owns.

“It’s our belief, and we’ve been discussing with the Irvine Co., that it isn’t a complete preserve until there’s protection of the Irvine Co. land as well,” Ferguson said. “From what we’ve seen of their plans, they plan on protecting it.”

Irvine Co. officials said Friday that they have no formal development plans for the land dotted with Tecate cypress.

“Clearly, we understand that there are some environmentally sensitive areas there,” said Mike Stockstill, an Irvine Co. spokesman. “We’re also aware that the Tecate cypress is an environmentally sensitive species. But having said all that, there’s a long way to go before deciding how all the pieces are going to fit in that area.”

The Coal Canyon forest is the northernmost stand in the world, with the closest similar grove being 80 miles to the south in the mountains of San Diego County.

The Nature Conservancy is helping state officials work out a management plan to ensure that the trees remain healthy. Tecate trees are very vulnerable to fire, and suffered damage as recently as 1982, so the biggest challenge of the new reserve will be stopping wildfires.

Ferguson said other development, including housing and a possible jail and landfill adjacent to Coal Canyon, have been proposed for the area, increasing the threat of fires.

Ferguson credited the present deal to Proposition 70, a $776-million bond measure for nature preservation, which was passed overwhelmingly by California voters in 1988, and Friends of Tecate Cypress and the Sierra Club, which worked to get $4 million in the measure specifically set aside for the grove.

“There’s been quite a bit of give and take in these negotiations,” Ferguson said. “Everybody feels very happy. The (Fish and Game Department) wildlife conservation board expressed a lot of satisfaction. Hon seems happy, and we’re very happy.”

Times staff writer Eric Bailey contributed to this report.

TECATE CYPRESS

Tecate cypress (Cupressus guadalupensis, subspecies forbesii)

Habitat: Closed-cone coniferous forest. Grows on steep, dry slopes and ridges below mountains.

General location in Orange County: Coal Canyon in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains.

Overall range: Orange County is a significant portion of the tree’s range. Coal Canyon east of Anaheim contains one of only four remaining Tecate forests in the nation. It is the northernmost Tecate forest and the second largest one. Three other groves are in San Diego County; several small ones are in Baja California.

Threats: Hon Development Co. housing proposals in Coal Canyon. Also, adjacent land has been proposed for an Irvine Co. development, a county jail and a landfill. Other than development, fire is tree’s biggest enemy, since 90% of the grove was destroyed by wildfire in 1948.