SIMI VALLEY : Ahmanson Land to Plant 2,000 Oaks

The Ahmanson Land Co. has launched the latest phase of a long-term program to replace hundreds of oak trees that must be cut down to make way for its planned mini-city in the hills southeast of Simi Valley, company officials said.

Preparations are under way to transplant 2,000 five-foot oaks from a nursery to various spots around Ahmanson Ranch, said Stan Roberts of Ag Land Services, the company caring for the trees.

The planting was modeled after a pilot program conducted last year in which 100 trees were planted around the ranch, said Gil Nielsen, senior vice president of Ahmanson Land.

The company last month planted hundreds of acorns in small containers, where they will be kept until they mature. According to Nielsen, in about a year, they will be transplanted into larger containers, where they will be kept for about two more years.

About 2,000 trees were planted in 1989, in the first phase of the reforestation program, Ahmanson officials said. The company plans to plant a total of 4,000 trees as part of a development agreement that requires it to plant five trees for every one destroyed in building the project.

Ahmanson Land Co. wants to build 3,050 homes, two golf courses and 400,000 square feet of commercial space in a hilly area southeast of Simi Valley near the border of Los Angeles County. Many area residents oppose the project and several lawsuits have been filed to block it.

In an environmental review of the project, it was estimated that 1,300 oak trees would have to be cut down, Ahmanson officials said. The company has altered its plans and reduced the number to 700.

Oak trees seem to be having a difficult time regenerating in many parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, said Rosi Dagit, conservation biologist for the Topanga-Las Virgenes Resource Conservation District.