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Plans for Park’s Future to Be Released

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The National Park Service will release two documents about its operation and the future of the Santa Monica Mountains on Tuesday.

The agency will distribute its draft General Management Plan and a companion environmental impact statement on the future of the 150,000-acre Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, half of which is in Ventura County.

The operations document will establish priorities and set the course for the national park. It will update an almost 20-year-old management plan.

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“The issue is that a lot of people want to use the park, and we need to balance that with preserving the resources we have,” said Charles Taylor, a Park Service spokesman. “We could turn it into a reserve, but that does not take into account any recreation needs.”

Taylor said the outdoor activities available include hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, scenic driving, bird watching and wildlife viewing.

Five public workshops will be held the week of Feb. 5 to discuss the plan. Locations, times and directions are available at the National Park Service Visitor Center at 370-2301.

Copies of the document can be obtained by calling 370-2301 after Tuesday.

The plan is also available on the Internet at: www.nps.gov/planning/samo/gmp.

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