Babbitt Has Praise for Purchase of Jordan Ranch : Conservation: The Interior secretary says now is ‘the ideal time’ for park service to acquire land in Santa Monicas.

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt on Saturday praised the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for acquiring Bob Hope’s 2,308-acre Jordan Ranch in the Simi Hills east of Thousand Oaks.

“The Jordan Ranch acquisition yesterday was a wonderful indication of the efforts of a lot of people,” Babbitt said during a press conference at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills.

Babbitt, who has been in Southern California for about a week, briefly toured the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area on Saturday, speaking to reporters about land acquisitions and then moving on to dedicate the newly completed Pacific Crest Trail near Acton.

He said now is “the ideal time” to acquire land that the National Park Service and the conservancy have been eyeing in the Santa Monicas, because land prices are low and property can be purchased for less money than in recent years.

Acquisition of Jordan Ranch pushes National Park Service holdings within the National Recreation Area to about 20,400 acres--well on its way to the eventual goal of 35,000 acres in federal ownership.

The Jordan Ranch property, which the conservancy bought Thursday on behalf of the National Park Service, is the largest acquisition ever made by the conservancy, which is trying to put together a network of trails and parks in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

Although the purchase of Jordan Ranch has long been a top priority among park agencies, it still leaves unresolved the fate of the giant Ahmanson Ranch housing project and two other Hope properties.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors last December approved the 3,050-dwelling Ahmanson development near the Los Angeles County line, on the condition that the development partners turn over to state and federal park agencies 10,000 acres--most of it owned by Hope--of mountain land. This includes Jordan Ranch and two other Hope properties--Runkle Ranch northeast of Simi Valley and Corral Canyon in Malibu.

But that deal stalled when the Ahmanson Land Co., Hope and his development partner, Potomac Investment Associates, began squabbling over how to split profits from the deal, or cover each other’s losses should pending lawsuits kill the development.

The agreement announced Thursday separates Jordan from the larger parks-for-development deal.

But, under conditions laid out by the supervisors, the Ahmanson Ranch project still cannot go forward until Hope’s other two properties become public parkland. Ahmanson has 2 1/2 years to transfer the other properties to park agencies.

Jerry Daniel, chairman of the conservancy, a state park agency, said Saturday that he appreciated Babbitt’s comments.

“He’s absolutely right,” Daniel said. “Projects like this don’t happen by mistake. They take a lot of time and cooperation from people across the spectrum. We’re very appreciative of his recognition and heartened by his comments.”

At Paramount Ranch, Babbitt said he “had no idea” how beautiful the Santa Monica Mountains were until his tour. Because of weekend rain, a planned helicopter trip in the region was canceled. But Babbitt said the hills and the mist rising over them reminded him of a Brazilian rain forest.

“It’s a lot more rugged than I ever would have guessed,” he said.

Babbitt also said he supported efforts to acquire 248 acres in the region owned by Soka University. That land, like the Jordan Ranch property, would be purchased by the conservancy.

The Soka land has become controversial because the university, which is affiliated with Soka University of Japan, does not want to sell the portion of its holdings that the conservancy wants.

Babbitt stopped short of saying he would lend his support to the state’s efforts to condemn Soka’s land and force its sale to the conservancy. But he said he strongly favored the conservancy’s plan to acquire as much land as possible in the Santa Monica Mountains for a network of trails and parks in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

That property, which the conservancy is trying to buy for $19 million, is part of the state agency’s long-range plan for the area, Babbitt said.

“We should make every reasonable effort to bring that land into the park system.”

Times staff writer Leo Smith contributed to this story.