$13.2 Million OKd for Wilderness Lands : Conservation: Congressional committee votes for allocation to help purchase property in the Santa Monica Mountains. Jordan Ranch may be included.

A congressional committee Wednesday approved spending $13.2 million that could help buy the scenic Jordan Ranch and eventually lead to construction of a mini-city on Ahmanson Ranch in eastern Ventura County.

The money, approved by a Senate-House conference committee, probably will go toward acquisition of the 2,300-acre Jordan Ranch near Thousand Oaks, the 314-acre Paramount Ranch in Agoura or completion of the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains, federal park officials said.

The bill also designates $8 million for the Channel Islands National Park off the Ventura County coast. The money allows the park to buy all but one-quarter interest of the last privately held parcel on Santa Cruz Island.

About 90% of the island, which is the largest in the park, already is held by the Nature Conservancy, an international conservation group.

All $13.2 million earmarked for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area could be used for the Jordan Ranch purchase, although that decision has not yet been made, said David Gackenbach, superintendent of the recreation area.

If so, Gackenbach said, the federal government would be able to fulfill its $15.5-million end of a complicated deal in which the Ahmanson Land Co. and developers of comedian Bob Hope’s Jordan Ranch would turn over 10,000 acres to park agencies in exchange for a below-market $29.5 million. The deal would still hinge on the state’s raising the remaining $14 million and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approving construction of 3,050 dwellings, two golf courses, a hotel and a town center on Ahmanson Ranch at the Los Angeles County line.

The $12.5 billion Interior Department appropriations bill for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 is expected to win final approval in the Senate and House by early next week, proponents said. Although President Bush initially threatened to veto the bill for exceeding his spending recommendations, the White House has accepted compromises that now seem to ensure his signature, congressional sources said.

Rep. Bill Lowery (R--San Diego), the only Californian among the 27 conference members, said, “Californians should be extremely pleased at the level of funding. . . . We didn’t get everything, but overall we were very successful.”

In all, conferees approved more than $50 million in funding for 19 land-acquisition proposals and wildlife projects in California. While the Santa Monica Mountains allocation was the largest, others included money for properties at Big Sur, Lake Tahoe, the Sacramento River, the San Francisco Bay, the Santa Rosa Mountains and the San Bernardino National Forest.

The Santa Monica Mountains money, a compromise between $14 million approved by the House and $12.5 million by the Senate, is to help set aside land for the recreation area established by Congress more than a decade ago.

The national park comprises a patchwork of parkland and private holdings extending from Griffith Park to Point Mugu. So far, $129 million has been appropriated by Congress to acquire property that otherwise might be developed for residential or commercial use.

All the money comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which derives more than 80% of its revenue from offshore oil-drilling royalties. It is the largest source of money for land acquisition.

“We are delighted!” exclaimed Joan Reiss, western regional director of the Wilderness Society. “The Santa Monica Mountains is one of the precious preserves within commuting distance of an enormous number of people. If it goes, the wilderness experience goes with it.”

Gackenbach said 18,000 acres have been acquired in the Santa Monica Mountains recreation area to date. The goal for the completed project is 25,000 acres.

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D--Los Angeles), a chief supporter of the recreation area, said he was very pleased.

“It’s very gratifying to see that other members of Congress recognize how important it is to protect land and natural resources in the Santa Monica Mountains,” Beilenson said.

Responding to the probable $8 million allocation, Channel Islands National Park officials said they plan to seek another $4 million in the 1994 budget to buy the remaining interest in the parcel known as the Gherini property, which makes up about 10% of Santa Cruz Island.

Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) said Wednesday that he was “very gratified” that the conference committee included the $8 million in the bill.

“I’ve worked for the last 12 years to appropriate funds to acquire the last private holdings in the park,” he said.

Park Supt. Charles Mack Shaver said that escrow documents are in place and the sale is ready to proceed as soon as the money is released.

“We’re delighted,” he said. “It brings us that much closer” to conserving the entire island.

The 6,200-acre Gherini property was owned by four siblings. In 1990, the park acquired the interest held by the heirs of Pier Gherini. The $8 million would buy two more one-fourth interests, from Gherini sisters Ilda McGinness and Marie Ringrose.

The remaining one-fourth interest is held by Francis Gherini, who has told park officials he is willing to sell, but not at the $4 million assessed value.

Shaver said it is too early to tell whether the park will eventually take the land by condemnation.

Because the ownership is divided into “unspecified interests,” the park now owns three-fourths interest in “every acre, every rock and every tree,” Shaver said. The land cannot be opened to visitors and day hikers until the remaining quarter interest is acquired, he said.

Times staff writer Joanna M. Miller contributed to this report.

Parkland Acquisition

An appropriations bill that includes $8 million for land acquisition in the Channel Islands National Park is expected to pass Congress next week. With that money the park can buy all but one-quarter interest in the remaining privately-held on Santa Cruz Island.