Hayden Seeks State Purchase of Habitat on Ahmanson Ranch

Seeking to protect an endangered flower and frog recently found on Ahmanson Ranch, state Sen. Tom Hayden wants the state to spend $10 million to buy sensitive habitat and watershed areas on the property.

Hayden (D-Los Angeles), whose district abuts the site, said he lined up budget money to persuade the developer of the planned 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 halted development.

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

The primary access to the site is on 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, and have prompted 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 of Washington Mutual. “Well, there is no table.”

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

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 officials to use park bond money to buy the entire Ahmanson Ranch, said Mary Weisbrock, director of Save Open Space and a leading opponent of the project.