Environmentalists Seek Support for Wish List : Proposal: Volunteers will try to collect enough signatures to get a $2-billion bond initiative on state ballot in 1994. The county would get $98.05 million to purchase land for 17 park and wildlife sites.

From prized canyons in Laguna Beach and Anaheim Hills to rare wetlands in Huntington Beach, many of Orange County’s most coveted natural lands would be preserved or restored under a $2-billion bond initiative that environmentalists hope to put to voters statewide next year.

Beginning this weekend, environmentalists are fanning out all over the state to try to collect enough voters’ signatures to qualify the massive Californians for Parks and Wildlife measure for the state ballot in June, 1994.

Seventeen projects in Orange County and hundreds more throughout California--from renovation of inner-city parks in Los Angeles to purchase of remote redwood forests near Eureka--are targeted for funding in the proposed initiative. Orange County would be allocated $98.05 million out of the $2 billion, ranking third behind only Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

The projects represent a virtual wish list for California environmentalists, who have been struggling for years to find ways to protect those areas identified in the proposal, many of which now face development pressures. Statewide, the list of lands that would be preserved or enhanced is so immense that it encompasses 12 pages.

“We simply cannot rely on government to protect natural areas and threatened habitats. We have to do it ourselves,” said Michael Phillips, executive director of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy. “It’s important that when we go to see landowners, we have the money in hand.”

But the state Department of Parks and Recreation, which would administer most of the monies, is expressing reservations about the enormous scope of the initiative.

“What’s staggering to us is the sheer dollar amount of the bond,” said Denzil Verardo, chief of public affairs for the parks department. “I’m not sure of the viability of a bond that size. . . . The problems with it could be tremendous financially.”

Verardo said the state agency cannot under law take an official stand on a ballot measure, and will not actively support or oppose it.

“The voters will let us know what they think,” he said. “If it makes it on the ballot, then people want that kind of indebtedness.”

The bonds would cost the state about $3.5 billion in principal and interest payments over about 20 years, based on bond sales at a 7% rate, according to an estimate by the legislative analyst and state director of finance. In addition, “other unknown significant costs, possibly in the millions of dollars annually,” would be incurred to operate and manage the lands, according to the financial statement.

Led by the Sacramento-based Planning and Conservation League, environmentalists behind the effort say they tried to avoid controversy by limiting properties to be purchased to those with willing sellers. The landowners were contacted in advance for approval, although they offered no guarantees they would sell for any particular price.

“We refused to include anything that was considered controversial or didn’t have willing sellers,” said Lynn Sadler, natural resources director of the Planning and Conservation League.

To come up with the final list of projects, the environmental group had to sift through more than 1,500 nominations, requesting more than $100 billion, from more than 600 grass-roots groups.

Because Orange County’s land prices are so high, most of its allotted money would go toward purchasing land for parks and wildlife areas. Little would be left over for improving, restoring or managing the parks and wilderness areas, some of which are severely degraded, and money for these needs would have to be collected from other public and private sources.

Included in the bond proposal is $25 million for purchasing 189 acres in Laguna Canyon, $11 million to buy a cougar pathway in Coal Canyon in Anaheim Hills, $14 million for purchasing oak woodlands in Silverado Canyon and other eastern foothills and $12 million for an undeveloped coastal ridgeline in South Laguna.

Also, $6 million would be set aside to restore or buy some Bolsa Chica wetlands and uplands near Huntington Beach, while $4 million would go toward purchasing nearby oceanfront wetlands near Brookhurst Street.

Other projects in the county include $5 million to buy a Santiago Creek greenway in Santa Ana and Orange, $3.5 million to create a historical and archeological park near Mission San Juan Capistrano and $6 million to expand popular Irvine Regional Park near Orange.

Nearly all of the Orange County sites are facing imminent plans for development into homes, roadways and other projects by corporate landowners.

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Statewide, other natural lands that would be preserved are portions of the Ballona wetlands and El Segundo Dunes in Los Angeles County, numerous Central Valley wetlands, groves of redwoods in Northern California and natural habitat along the American River.

Since the proposal is only now being circulated publicly, no one can gauge whether opposition from business groups and others will be significant.

Many landowners favor the initiative’s “if you want it, buy it” approach to conservation. For example, the vice president of Hon Development, which has approval to build homes in Coal Canyon, has said the company would turn the property over to the state for the right price.

The Planning and Conservation League spearheaded a similar, $776-million parks bond measure in 1988 that was overwhelmingly supported by California voters. Much of the money approved in the measure has already been spent in Orange County and elsewhere around the state, and negotiations are underway for the use of the remaining money.

But recession-battered Californians might give a cold shoulder to the measure this time.

“We may have a bigger challenge this time. People are more skeptical and they are looking things over carefully,” Sadler said. “That’s why we wrote this so it’s very specific and they know exactly where the money would go.”

Sadler said creating new or improved parks and wilderness areas might even help the state pull out of its recession.

“This is the same type of investment like one in 1928 that launched the whole state parks system,” she said. “Those bonds were sold during the Great Depression and they helped purchase the one industry in California that isn’t lagging during the recession--tourism. It actually grew slightly in 1991.”

Environmentalists also believe the timing is right because land is cheaper.

“Why not do it now when the land is cheap and the interest rates are low?” Sadler said. “The idea is grab what you can while it’s cheap.”

Sadler said one major goal of the measure is to create safe places for children to play, particularly in urban areas. In many cases, preferential treatment must be given in awarding grants to projects in low-income and crime-ridden neighborhoods. About $20 million in capital funds is earmarked for fixing up abandoned or deteriorating urban parks in Los Angeles County.

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The conservation group’s effort to be everything to everyone is clearly illustrated by the heading on the 29-page measure: “The California Safe Neighborhood Parks, Gang Prevention, Tree Planting, Wildlife, Coastal, Senior Center, Park, Wetlands, Rivers, Forest and Agricultural Land Conservation Act of 1994.”

Although the money would go a long way toward resolving the environmental movement’s biggest preservation battles, it doesn’t end them.

For example, the money that would be set aside for Bolsa Chica wouldn’t come close to purchasing and restoring all the acreage in private ownership. The environmental group Amigos de Bolsa Chica had requested $100 million, which the state conservation group whittled down to $6 million.

“Six million dollars wouldn’t even cover a drop in the bucket,” said Lucy Dunn, a Koll Co. senior vice president who represents the Bolsa Chica landowners. “I don’t feel pro or con about the initiative. It’s something that in the context of our plan at Bolsa Chica, it doesn’t seem to have much impact.”

The Bolsa Chica landowners hope to obtain approval for building almost 5,000 homes on more than 400 acres and, in exchange, will restore 1,000 acres of remaining wetlands at a cost of at least $40 million.

Dunn said the owners have no intention of selling the property, but they didn’t oppose Bolsa Chica’s name on the initiative because the funds could eventually be used for restoration of state-owned wetlands there.

Adrianne Morrison, executive director of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, said her group wanted to take advantage of the chance to set aside money for the wetlands even though it wouldn’t go far. She said the provision was written “as broad as possible,” so the funds could go toward almost any ecological use at Bolsa Chica, not just buying land.

In Laguna Beach, however, environmentalists consider the bond act their best hope for raising enough funds to pay for an 189-acre piece of Laguna Canyon to complete the area’s giant greenbelt.

The Irvine Co. agreed several years ago to sell the city more than 2,000 acres of the canyon for $78 million, and a payment of $33 million is due in 1995 for the final parcel. The bond act would provide $25 million of that.

“That would get us really close to where we need to be,” said Phillips of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy. “This (payment) has been looming out there since we signed the agreement with the Irvine Co., and this is our best shot at it. It is critical to Laguna Canyon that we make that purchase.”

California environmentalists have until late October to collect 370,000 valid signatures in the state, and the drive will be orchestrated entirely by volunteers. That sets it apart from nearly all ballot measures in California, which traditionally are handled by professional signature-collectors who charge for their work.

“Almost all of our energies will be focused on this this summer,” Phillips said. “We’ll collect signatures at the art festivals, on the beaches, anywhere where there are people. Our fate is in our own hands at this point. It’s a matter of how hard we are willing to work to make it happen.”

Environmental Enhancement

Orange County would receive more than $98 million to enhance parks, wilderness areas and historic sites if California voters approve a $2-billion bond initiative that environmentalists are seeking to get on the state ballot next year. The 17 projects designated for funding:

Project: Laguna Canyon Type: purchase Location: Laguna Beach Cost in millions: $25 Project: Orange County foothills Type: purchase Location: Silverado/Trabuco/Santiago canyons Cost in millions: 14 Project: South Laguna/Laguna Niguel ridgeline Type: purchase Location: South Laguna/Laguna Niguel Cost in millions: 12 Project: Coal Canyon Type: purchase Location: Anaheim Hills Cost in millions: 11 Project: Bolsa Chica Wetlands Type: purchase Location: Huntington Beach Cost in millions: 6 Project: Irvine Regional Park Type: expansion Location: Orange Cost in millions: 6 Project: Santiago Creek Type: purchase Location: Orange, Santa Ana Cost in millions: 5 Project: Huntington Beach wetlands Type: purchase Location: Huntington Beach Cost in millions: 4 Project: Chino Hills State Park Type: expansion Location: Yorba Linda area Cost in millions: 3.9 Project: San Juan Capistrano historic park Type: purchase Location: San Juan Capistrano Cost in millions: 3.5 Project: Bolsa Chica Regional Park Type: expansion Location: Huntington Beach Cost in millions: 2 Project: Mile Square Park Type: expansion Location: Fountain Valley Cost in millions: 1.5 Project: North Talbert Regional Park Type: expansion Location: Costa Mesa Cost in millions: 1.3 Project: Dana Point Headlands Type: purchase Location: Dana Point Cost in millions: 1 Project: San Joaquin Marsh Type: restoration Location: Irvine Cost in millions: 1 Project: Orange County coastal sage Type: restoration Location: Undetermined Cost in millions: 0.5 Project: Aliso Creek Bike Bridge Type: restoration Location: Lake Forest Cost 0.3 Total in millions: $98.05Source: Planning and Conservation League; Researched by MARLA CONE / Los Angeles Times