Governor’s Veto Eliminates Key Link in Backbone Trail

Gov. Pete Wilson has vetoed a bill that would have completed a key link in the 70-mile Backbone Trail by preserving 160 acres--once owned by the late film director Frank Capra--as public parkland in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The property, a rugged stretch of ridges and undeveloped canyons, was the subject of a proposed land transfer aimed at settling $1.2 million in taxes owed by the Capra estate--and extending the trail that runs into Ventura County.

But the governor objected to the repayment plan, saying that the land’s appraised value of $480,000 was less than half the amount the state was owed.

In a letter to the California Assembly explaining his Wednesday night veto, Wilson said the proposed deal was “inconsistent with fundamental notions of fair dealing and equal treatment by government” and would cost the state over $500,000 in lost revenue.

But Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), who sponsored the bill, questioned the appraisal amount cited by Wilson.

“Any fool can tell you that 160 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountains--I mean, when the [Santa Monica Mountains] Conservancy buys such things, it’s over $1 million,” she said. “I think that the whole premise of his veto is in error.”

The Capra property, located in Encinal Canyon south of Mulholland Highway, is seen by conservation officials as a critical quarter-mile link in the Backbone Trail.

Winding through state and federal land from Will Rogers State Park to Point Mugu, the scenic trail has been a work in progress for 20 years. About six miles remain incomplete, all in the vicinity of the Capra land.

“It’s quite a dramatic trail,” said Russ Guiney, the California State Parks superintendent for the Angeles District. “You can start out with views of Century City and Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Bay, and hike all the way to Ventura County.”

For now, hikers wishing to trek the full trail must emerge from the chaparral-covered mountains onto asphalt roads at some of the incomplete sections. The Clinton administration has budgeted $5.5 million to purchase the other remaining parcels to finish the trail, and the funding is still pending in Congress, said Scott Erickson, deputy superintendent for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Capra, who directed the classic films “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” died in 1991. His estate, which owed the state about $607,000 in estate taxes, sold the 160 acres to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority for almost $1 million in 1993. Virtually the entire payment was in the form of a promissory note that matured in 1996 with a value of $1.2 million.

In 1994 the state controller agreed to accept the note in lieu of the estate taxes, interest and penalties. But two years later, the conservation authority defaulted on payments to the controller because of dwindling financial support from Congress, leaving the taxes unpaid. Kuehl’s bill would have allowed the controller to satisfy the debt by turning the property over to the state Department of Parks and Recreation.

The Capra land now faces an uncertain future. Kuehl said that environmental regulations will restrict the land’s development, perhaps complicating any sale to a private buyer. Park officials, meanwhile, resolved to keep searching for money to buy the property.

“I’m disappointed . . . but it’s not the end of the world,” Guiney said. “There may still be a way to preserve it. It’s just that now we have to scramble to find some other sources of funding and this would have been a simple way to do it.”