Westside : TRAIL BUILDING

Conservationists gathered at Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades on Wednesday to announce a campaign to raise $4 million to purchase several parcels of land to complete the 70-mile long Backbone Trail.

The scenic trail, which winds from Pacific Palisades to Point Magu State Park in Ventura County, lacks only 12 miles to be completed, said Garrie Mar, a director for the Mountains Conservancy Foundation. Six of the 12 miles still need to be purchased from private owners at an estimated cost of $4 million, she said. The other six-mile stretch is national parkland and does not have well-constructed trails.

“We are going to devote 1996 to the capital campaign to raise the funds needed to acquire the land,” Mar said.