Graffiti Vandals Strike Wilson Canyon Park
Vandals have been at work in the San Fernando Valley’s newest park, 255-acre Wilson Canyon Park located behind Olive View-UCLA Medical Center.
The park, once slated for a residential development, was purchased by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in April.
Vandals recently spray-painted graffiti in bright colors on a number of trees in the hilly, rugged parkland, said Rorie Skei, the conservancy’s Rim of the Valley division chief.
“Somebody also broke into some of the abandoned hospital buildings” near an entrance to the park, Skei added. The buildings were heavily damaged in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and have since remained empty.
“It’s extremely upsetting to see a beautiful natural area marked up that way,” Skei said.
A half-mile access road into the park that leads from Olive View Drive to a Los Angeles County haul road was recently completed, Skei said. The park will also include an equestrian staging area, parking lot and picnic tables.
Hikers, bikers and equestrians who witness any nature crimes are urged to call either the park ranger station in Towsley Canyon at (805) 255-2974 or the park rangers’ 24-hour answering service at (310) 456-7049.
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