Seeking Refuge at the Reservoir

You know this scene all too well. You’re an urban warrior, battling it out on the Ventura Freeway. As you exit, everywhere you look it’s mini-malls, mega people.

Now, imagine for a moment, getting off the 101 in the far West Valley and driving north 10 minutes to the solitude of a wetlands preserve at Chatsworth Reservoir.

An osprey swoops low over a lagoon, a bobcat scampers off in the brush and Native American historic sites are tucked between indigenous grasses and shrubs.

You are in a national wildlife refuge--the first in Los Angeles County.

Just a dream, or could it happen?

“I foresee it as being a reality,” said Helen Treend, who in 1970 led the fight to save Orcutt Ranch in West Hills and has pursued preservation of the reservoir for 25 years. “It’s just [that] slow-moving government issues take a long time.”

“It would be unique, an urban refuge focused on environmental restoration and education,” said Marc Weitzel, an official with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency responsible for such designations.

Residents, developers, sports groups, conservationists, government officials and even school kids have long wrestled with the plans for the 1,300-acre Chatsworth Reservoir.

By default, those decades-long debates to use the site for affordable housing, soccer fields, a heliport or a wildlife preserve--have kept the property in limbo, but also intact and untouched.

One of the largest expanses of open space in the Valley, the reservoir is dotted with grass and valley oaks, seasonal ponds and some old DWP structures.

Native American sites have been identified, and sightings of deer, foxes and coyotes are common. Ann Hinckley of West Hills, who supports the idea of a national refuge, said she even saw a bobcat once.

Birders frequent the pond to watch Canada geese, osprey, red tail hawks, prairie falcons, peregrine falcons, redwing blackbirds and kingfishers.

Last year, tempers flared when the DWP discussed a sale of surplus land and the agency estimated the reservoir was worth $50 million. (It costs the agency $250,000 annually to maintain it.)

Then last spring, DWP board chairman Rick Caruso butted heads with Councilman Hal Bernson when Caruso told the City Council the land could be used for a host of purposes, from housing to sports fields. But by April, Caruso backed down and released a draft preservation plan.

Laying the Groundwork

The idea for a national wildlife refuge is still in the planning stages.

This summer, Treend, a former Valley resident who now lives in Oregon, hauled at least 5 pounds of scientific reports and 5,000 signatures of sanctuary supporters to the western regional Fish and Wildlife office in Portland, Ore.

In August, a visit to the reservoir was arranged for Weitzel, a project leader in the Fish and Wildlife office in Ventura.

Weitzel recently drafted a letter to ask agency brass in Washington, D.C., whether he should proceed with an extensive study to determine feasibility of an “overlay refuge status.”

That means the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would manage the reservoir, but it would still be owned by the DWP. The agreement would be held in perpetuity.

Many overlay refuges are on military land. For example, a portion of the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Facility includes wetlands that are a part of the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.

If the go-ahead is given for a study, the exhaustive evaluation process can take up to a year.

After his visit to the reservoir, which included an osprey sighting, Weitzel said the potential exists to expand the six-acre lagoon by a few acres, planting native vegetation, removing obsolete buildings and roads and adding interpretive trails.

Because the reservoir is in the Pacific Flyway, an enhanced wetlands would benefit the thousands of migratory birds that need a stopover during their flight from Alaska and Canada to Central and South America.

Los Angeles County does not have a national wildlife refuge--the closest are the Seal Beach reserve in Orange County and Hopper Mountain, near Fillmore in Ventura County. It is a rare opportunity, Weitzel said, for an urban metropolis like L.A.

“For us it is a future vision,” he said. “This could be fairly unique. You have millions of people at your doorstep. The opportunities for environmental education are unlimited in an area like that.”

DWP May Create Advisory Panel

Opinions vary on the national refuge idea.

DWP General Manager David Freeman said it’s not necessary to have the federal government confer protective status. The city, he said, could approve its own permanent preservation easement.

The DWP, which has promised to set aside 1,000 acres for preservation, has no development options on the table right now, Freeman said. So far, the agency that has protected the property is expected at its Oct. 19 board meeting to set up an advisory committee, including members of the Audubon Society and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Councilman Bernson said he wants to see the reservoir purchased as part of a state parks bond issue on the March ballot. He has long supported the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy as a possible managing agency.

“But I’m not interested in turf battles,” Bernson said. “I’m interested in getting it out of the hands of the DWP and . . . into [those of] an independent group, whether it’s the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy or the Santa Susana Mountains Conservancy or a group of conservationists.”

The national refuge idea, he said, is “very definitely a plus. It wouldn’t interfere, so I have no problem with it. It’s pretty much the same idea.”

Some Interested in Overlay Concept

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), whose congressional district includes the reservoir, said he respects Bernson’s efforts. The land should be set aside exclusively for conservation and recreation, he said.

The overlay concept would be “very interesting to pursue,” said Rorie Skei, deputy director for natural resources and planning at the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Whether the conservancy helps manage or purchase the property, the main goal, she said, is permanent stewardship of the land.

“We just want to make sure the resources of the natural valley oak savanna, the Pacific Flyway feature and the fact that it is a county significant ecological area with rare and threatened species are protected,” she said.