Beilenson Urges House Panel to Allocate $15 Million to Buy Land for Park

Noting that the economic downturn has created buying opportunities, Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) asked a key House panel Wednesday to provide at least $15 million next year to purchase land for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Beilenson told the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies that the funds could be used to buy properties along the Backbone Trail and in Zuma and Trancas canyons. The subcommittee is the first stop in the annual congressional appropriations process.

If past is prologue, the recreation area will probably receive far less than Beilenson requested. President Clinton included $5 million in his budget proposal, which may be a more realistic figure amid intense budgetary pressures. Clinton had included no funds last year.

“We seldom get as much as we ask for,” Beilenson acknowledged moments after appearing before the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Sidney D. Yates (D-Ill.), and a table of empty chairs. “We’re competing with the rest of the country for a small amount.”

Beilenson used the same figure recommended by a coalition of 39 environmental groups. The park received $4 million last year, considerably less than it had received for any fiscal year since 1988.

Beilenson said the National Park Service would like to acquire 19 properties, totaling 500 acres along the Backbone Trail, which are estimated to cost $10 million. The 43-mile trail traverses the spine of the Santa Monica Mountains from Will Rogers State Park to Point Mugu.

The Park Service has also targeted 20 properties in Zuma and Trancas canyons covering 1,300 acres and valued at about $8 million, and about 3,500 acres in other areas.

Beilenson once again said that many privately held properties within the recreation area are threatened with development and could be lost if not acquired soon.

“At the same time, however, because of the severity of the economic downturn, land prices have declined and many small property owners are eager to sell,” he added. “Thus, it is likely that each acquisition dollar will go farther than it did in earlier years.”

Beilenson also made a request for his second pet cause: preservation of the endangered African elephant. He asked for $1.2 million to provide assistance to African wildlife agencies, organizations and individuals.

The money would pay for research, conservation and management of the mammoth creatures under the African Elephant Conservation Act of 1988. Beilenson said this program has been extremely helpful in preserving the species in its native habitat.

The number of African elephants has diminished from 1.5 million a decade ago to 400,000.