Calabasas : UCLA Acquires Land for Nature Research

UCLA’s dream to create a nature reserve in the Santa Monica Mountains has finally become a reality.

The university recently acquired from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy a 67-acre tract off Stunt Road, near Mulholland Highway. The land will be used for the study of resource management, wildlife ecology and archeology, UCLA officials said.

“For years we hoped to establish a reserve in the Santa Monica Mountains that could be protected from development and could also be used as an education site for our students and the community,” said Philip Rundel, a UCLA professor of biology who will manage the property.

Before UCLA took possession of the land, it was part of a 310-acre tract known as Stunt Ranch, university officials said. Under an agreement with the conservancy, officials added, UCLA will have access to the remaining 243 acres of Stunt Ranch for teaching and research.

UCLA acquired the acreage as part of a land-swap agreement with the conservancy about 10 years ago, said Carole Felixson, a project manager for the reserve. Under the terms, she said, UCLA gave the conservancy 400 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains, which the land acquisition agency converted to parkland. In return, she said, UCLA was to have taken possession of the entire 310 acres of Stunt Ranch.

Later, the land was reappraised by the state, Felixson said, and it was determined that the 400 acres were equivalent in value to the 67 acres UCLA ended up with.

The university said it has tentative plans to build a home for an on-site manager, a small classroom and a small nature education center on the property.