County to Seek Funding for Pyramid Lake Patrols

The state controls the water and the federal government owns the land, but it is the county that foots the bill for boat patrols on Pyramid Lake.

The 19-year-old arrangement worked when Los Angeles County was in the black and it was mostly local residents who picnicked and boated along the 22 miles of shoreline north of Santa Clarita, said a spokeswoman for Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the area.

But now the county is on a tight budget and many of the 275,000 people annually who visit the state reservoir in the Angeles National Forest live in nearby Kern and Ventura counties.

Determined to shift some of the burden, Antonovich plans to propose that the U. S. Forest Service either help pay the $170,000 a year in salaries and equipment that the Sheriff’s Department spends to patrol the lake or allow the county to charge a fee to offset the cost, she said.

“The days of the county giving a free lunch are over,” said Lori Howard, an Antonovich deputy.

But Forest Service officials said they have no funds to spare because they lease operation of the lake to a concessionaire, whose contract requires him to turn over to the federal government only about 5% of the annual revenue, or about $10,000 a year.

“We just don’t have any surplus around to help the county out,” said Don Stikkers, assistant recreation officer for the Angeles National Forest.

Responsible for 1,000 rescues each year, the two-deputy patrols were nearly beached earlier this summer because of potential budget cutbacks. The patrol was kept afloat after Gov. Pete Wilson extended a half-cent sales tax through the end of the year to be used for public safety purposes.

But county officials are still looking for ways to cut corners because they are not sure that voters will approve a state measure on the November ballot to maintain the tax.

Howard said the county may have to charge visitors an additional $1 to use the lake if the measure does not pass and talks with the Forest Service about cost-sharing prove fruitless. The Forest Service now charges a $6 parking fee for cars and a $12 fee for boats. Swimmers pay an extra $1 apiece to use the beach, he said.