Topanga Purchase Will Reclaim a Treasure

Thanks for the shipment of good news (“State to Buy Topanga Canyon Coastal Acreage for Parkland,” July 3). In an era when precious habitat is lost daily, never to be recovered, what a gift this is to be able to protect a vibrant, undammed, biodiverse watershed right in our midst, through the purchase of the lower Topanga watershed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. As a resident of Topanga and champion of steelhead trout, I know what an amazing acquisition this is, an ecological treasure that remains home to creatures that have vanished from nearly every other place in Los Angeles County. We now have an opportunity to reclaim the resource and reverse thoughtless development policies. To not take that opportunity would be a crime inflicted on our children and their children.

It is unfortunate that people who have had the good luck to have lived on this treasure for decades will now need to move, but there is only one Topanga Creek, and there are millions of other places to live. Let’s just commit to making the transition as smooth as possible.

Kevin S. Reed

President, L.A. County Chapter

Trout Unlimited

It’s evidently a done deal that the private residences at the mouth of Topanga Canyon are to be torn down--and there’s no real defense for them; they’re only beautiful. But the businesses (seen even from the point of view of the most dedicated conservationists) surely qualify as culturally significant within a historical context. That all-too-small precious stretch of land reminds us of what California beach settlements used to be in less materialistic days.

The Malibu Feed Bin serves horse lovers in Topanga, Malibu, Calabasas and the Palisades. It’s been a landmark for 38 years. The Topanga Ranch Motel began in 1929 as a work camp for men constructing Pacific Coast Highway; it’s been a motel serving tourists of modest means since 1940 and currently shelters a resident who’s lived there since 1953. Wylie’s Bait and Tackle has served three--maybe four--generations of grandfathers, sons and grandsons.

I lived in Topanga Canyon for 32 years. I believe it’s as close to paradise as you can get in Southern California. But people have been walking from the Valley to the beach for as long as I can remember. If they have to pass the Feed Bin in order to get to the ocean, it’s not going to hurt them (or those steelhead trout we’ve been hearing so much about, either).

Carolyn See

Pacific Palisades