Council Votes to Preserve Dunes at LAX : * Environment: It’s the habitat for an endangered butterfly. Two hundred acres would be returned to their native state. Plans for golf course are cut back.

One of the last sections of a sand dune system that once stretched along much of Southern California’s coast has been designated for preservation by the Los Angeles City Council.

Two hundred acres of dunes west of Los Angeles International Airport’s runways would be set aside and eventually restored to their native state under a council vote last week.

The unanimous approval of an amendment to the Airport-El Segundo Dunes Specific Plan comes nearly a year after city officials ranging from Councilwoman Ruth Galanter to the airport commission and Mayor Tom Bradley agreed to double the size of the dunes preserve. Airport officials had previously planned to set aside 100 acres of the land, best known as the home of the endangered El Segundo blue butterfly.

“This is the only area on our planet where some of these species survive,” said Galanter, who had insisted on the 200-acre preserve. “It’s very important that we protect them. We have a special responsibility.”

Environmentalists said they were pleased by the council action.

“I’m glad its moving ahead,” said Sallie Davison, president of the environmental group Friends of the Dunes. “Now people in Southern California will still be able to come and see what a sand dune looks like.”

Although the council action must be approved by the California Coastal Commission, it clears the way for the city to apply for state grants to restore the dunes.

Galanter said she hopes that $1 million will be available from the state to remove alien species from the dunes and promote endangered life forms.

Non-native plants, such as ice plant, must be removed in order for native species to thrive, according to biologists who have studied the property.

Aside from the blue butterfly, at least eight other species of insects and one type of flower exist only on the dunes.

Under the approved plan, a golf course proposed by the Department of Airports is reduced from 200 acres to 100 acres.

Airport officials still hope to build an 18-hole golf course on the north end of the property. But specific plans for the course will not be considered until the Coastal Commission has approved the concept, said Dennis Green, an executive assistant with the Department of Airports.

The dunes preserve and golf course land are to be squeezed between Pershing Drive and Vista Del Mar Boulevard, north of Imperial Highway. The preserve is designated for the south end of the property, and the golf course is envisioned for land closer to the community of Playa del Rey.

The preserve and the golf course lie under the flight path for planes taking off from LAX.