Sale of Scout Camp to Redevelopment Agency Draws Fire

To the dismay of environmentalists, a crucial piece of a 30-mile-long wildlife corridor in eastern Los Angeles County has been purchased by a redevelopment agency known for its warehouses and office parks.

The city of Industry’s Urban Development Agency has purchased the 2,533-acre Firestone camp from the Boy Scouts of America for $16.5 million. Industry officials say they want the property, which lies in rustic Tonner Canyon two miles outside city limits near Diamond Bar, to build a reservoir.

The agency beat out two environmental groups that offered $1.5 million more for the land before their proposals stalled. The groups were hoping to buy and preserve the camp as part of the wildlife corridor that stretches from northern Orange County to the hills of Whittier.

Now conservationists are threatening to sue, claiming that the city didn’t conduct a proper environmental review for a reservoir before purchasing the land. And stoking the controversy is their suspicion that the deal was influenced by business ties between Industry and the Boy Scouts board.

Although Scout officials deny any favoritism, they acknowledge that a member of the nonprofit’s executive board was involved in the transaction, working on behalf of the redevelopment agency.

John H. Semcken III, vice president of Majestic Realty Co., helped broker the purchase and lobbied fellow Scout board members to accept the offer, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Times. Semcken is one of 25 volunteer vice chairmen for the Los Angeles Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Documents show that Semcken sent copies of offers and counteroffers on the Boy Scout property to his boss, Majestic owner Ed Roski Jr., a politically powerful developer who has built acres of industrial parks in conjunction with Industry’s redevelopment agency.

“To me the key issue here is the city of Industry, working with Majestic, is using its influence on the Scout board to negate any deals [the conservationists] propose,” said Jeff Yann, chairman of the San Gabriel Valley Task Force of the Sierra Club.

“You really wonder what would make the Scouts sign a deal that would destroy the canyon for less money than the other groups had to offer,” he said.

Yann and other environmentalists say they suspect that Roski will eventually build subdivisions on the land, located at a critical juncture of growth from Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties.

But Industry officials deny any hidden motives for acquiring the camp, on which they plan to build a reservoir holding up to 250,000 acre-feet of water. They also say they will honor the spirit of the wildlife corridor by maintaining an easement to allow passage of animals over the land.

“What angers me is this whole idea that Roski is going to develop this thing,” said Industry Mayor Dave Winn. “And we have no intention to develop the area either. I’d like to put that notion to rest because I’m getting tired of it.”

Roski did not return calls seeking comment. Semcken confirmed his involvement in the deal. He and other Scout officials said it didn’t pose a conflict because he did it for free and, as a vice chairman of the nonprofit group, he refrained from voting to accept Industry’s offer.

In an interview, Semcken said the deal, which closed escrow Nov. 21, was good for the Scouts.

“Let me tell you something: The Scouts got a wonderful price for property that is never going to be developed,” said Semcken.

The fight over the Tonner Canyon camp reflects the competing interests for the county’s shrinking bank of unused land. So far, the canyon has remained virtually pristine, with a perennial stream trickling through low meadows and native walnut trees erupting in yellow foliage this time of year.

The canyon is a large link in the 30-mile chain of open space known as the Puente-Chino Hills Wildlife Corridor. Conservationists have been working for years to prevent development in the corridor--which stretches from the mountains of Orange County into the Puente Hills around Whittier.

Because of its link to a larger wilderness area to the south, the corridor accommodates animals such as deer and mountain lions, which have been seen almost as far west as the San Gabriel River Freeway.

If the Tonner Canyon camp is developed, however, it could restrict or close off passage for the larger mammals coming from the forest, preservationists claim.

“If this goes through, and they sever the wildlife corridor, all the work, all the money to create this thing, is for naught,” said Joe Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which is involved in preserving the corridor.

The Firestone Boy Scout camp, just east of the Orange Freeway, is considered among the most ecologically significant areas in Los Angeles County, according to the county’s general plan.

The Scouts have been looking to sell the land for years. And because Tonner Canyon sits at a juncture between the three counties, there has been no shortage of potential buyers.

For more than a decade, Industry officials have been interested in buying the Firestone camp so that, in combination with ranchland the city owns to the north, it can build the reservoir. In 1999, the city’s redevelopment agency approached the Boy Scouts with a $10-million offer for 2,100 acres in the canyon.

In presenting the offer, Semcken wrote the Boy Scouts: “This proposal is the result of numerous meetings between representatives of the Boy Scouts, [Industry Urban Development Agency] and Majestic Realty.”

Semcken said Majestic does not want to buy or develop the property, but was only helping the city.

While negotiations continued, the Yucaipa-based Wildlands Conservancy--a privately funded group that preserves natural habitat--made an $18-million bid for the property.

Documents show that Semcken lobbied fellow Scout officials against taking the Wildlands offer. In November of last year, he wrote a letter on Majestic stationery to board members blasting the conservancy’s offer and threatening to withdraw Industry’s bid unless the Scouts agreed to exclusive negotiations with the city.

“I was very involved in pointing out to the board that the transaction with the conservancy was a scam and would never come together,” he said last week. He added that the group did not really have the money--a charge the conservancy denies.

Despite Semcken’s urging, the Scouts decided last December to pursue the conservancy’s offer, only to see the deal fall apart. The Boy Scouts blame it on the failure to agree to certain terms; conservancy officials say the Scouts undermined the negotiations with unreasonable restrictions.

This summer, the Scouts resumed negotiations with Industry. Semcken said he prepared the terms. By October, the redevelopment agency made a final offer of $16.5 million for 2,533 acres.

At the last minute, a second conservation group put in a bid. On Nov. 13, the Wildlife Corridor Conservation Authority offered $18 million.

But that offer also fell through. Boy Scout officials said it came in too late and there were questions about the availability of the conservation group’s money, $10 million of which was tied up in a county bonds account.

Conservancy officials blame politics for preventing them from getting the money. They claim that county Supervisor Don Knabe, who represents the area around the canyon, blocked the release of funds because of demands by his constituents to put a road through the canyon.

Knabe denies it. He said the conservation group never formally requested the money. But he agreed that any deal to preserve Tonner Canyon should take into account the wishes of his constituents, including those in nearby Diamond Bar who have been advocating the roadway.

“I felt it was important their [Diamond Bar’s] interests were at the table,” Knabe said.

Boy Scout board members voted at their Nov. 16 meeting to accept Industry’s bid. Semcken didn’t participate in the vote and did not speak on behalf of Industry at the meeting, he and others said.

Scout officials say they eventually opted for Industry’s offer because the deal would still allow campers access to the canyon--or reservoir, if it’s built--and to an 800-acre parcel they still own on a bluff. They also say that while conservationists talked about paying more, the city’s money was a sure thing--with a $500,000 deposit indemnifying the escrow.

Industry has yet to conduct any significant studies to see if a dam and reservoir are feasible on the site. The land sits in the Whittier fault zone and the city of Brea lies downstream.

One Industry official likened the purchase of the Tonner Canyon camp to Los Angeles’ historic land acquisition in the Owens Valley, which brought an aqueduct to the region and fueled urban growth.

“We’re doing on a small scale what the city of L.A. did on a huge scale,” said Michael Montgomery, legal counsel for the city’s redevelopment agency.

Environmentalists who oppose the acquisition say that’s exactly their point. Just as the Owens Valley land grab fed growth and ruined Owens Valley farms, Industry’s purchase will spur development and threaten fragile plans for the wildlife corridor.

“It’s rotten top to bottom,” said Eldon Hughes of the Sierra Club. “It’s a land grab that’s going to take this beautiful valley away from kids and the public.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Breaking the Link

The Puente-Chino Hills Wildlife Corridor stretches from the Cleveland National Forest to Whittier. Conservationists say its continuity is threatened by Industry’s purchase of Tonner Canyon, a critical link along the route.