Hayden Proposes State Purchase of Ahmanson Land to Protect Species

Seeking to protect an endangered flower and frog recently found on Ahmanson Ranch, a state senator whose district abuts the site wants the state to spend $10 million to buy sensitive habitat and watershed areas on the property.

Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) said he lined up budget money to persuade the developer of the 3,050-unit housing project to sell portions of the ranchland.

“If for political or legal reasons, land becomes available, then the state ought to be in line to acquire habitat for endangered species,” Hayden said.

The 2,800-acre project in Ventura County along the Los Angeles County line was approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in 1992, but lawsuits and regulatory delays have stalled development.

Environmentalists and several Los Angeles area officials have fought the project, contending it would overdevelop a rural area and add 45,000 cars a day to already congested roadways, including the Ventura Freeway.

Although located in Ventura County, the primary access to the site is from Los Angeles County roads, a major reason for the opposition from Los Angeles County residents and politicians.

The San Fernando Valley spineflower, a plant once thought to be extinct, and the endangered California red-legged frog were recently found on the property, prompting further environmental review.

Nevertheless, the property is not for sale, said a spokesman for Washington Mutual Inc., the parent company of Ahmanson Land Co.

“We’ll get calls from people now and then saying, ‘When are we coming to the negotiating table?’ ” said Tim McGarry. “Well, there is no table.”

McGarry asked why Hayden would propose spending public money to protect the flower and the frog when state and federal environmental laws require the company to do that already.

That, McGarry said, would make taxpayers pay for what the developer already must do.

Hayden said he proposed spending the money, which would come from park bonds voters approved in March, to provoke discussion about a public purchase of the land and to get the attention of Gov. Gray Davis.

“It’s up to the governor whether we should put the money on the table,” said the senator, who is leaving office this year.

Davis and Rusty Arieas, head of the state parks department, have been inundated with postcards urging the officials to use park bond money to buy the entire Ahmanson Ranch, said Mary Weisbrock, director of the nonprofit group Save Open Space and a leading opponent of the project.

The Agoura Hills resident would like to see the ranch turned into a park, complete with walking and hiking trails.

“The headwaters of the Malibu Creek are there,” Weisbrock said. “It’s a critical ecosystem that shouldn’t be developed.”

Weisbrock called Hayden’s proposal promising but said she would not support it if the money only went to buying a portion of the ranch.

“The species won’t be protected by acquiring a small portion,” she said. “You can’t put a new city there with 3,000 homes and expect the species to survive.”