Protecting Our Lands From Overdevelopment

Re “Newhall Ranch a World Away From Ahmanson,” Feb. 10: Ahmanson Ranch has been protected by federal and state legislation as well as having been zoned open space in the Ventura County General Plan. Ahmanson contains the only headwaters that stay wet all year in the Santa Monica Mountains zone. Part of the Ahmanson Ranch is within the boundaries of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area.

The recreational area, which includes the seashore, is the busiest national park in the nation. Preserving this ranch will go a long way toward preserving the Malibu Creek watershed, Malibu’s Surfrider Beach and the integrity of our national park. Keeping Ahmanson Ranch undeveloped and bringing it into public ownership will add desperately needed parkland to our Greater Los Angeles area, the most park-poor metropolitan area in the nation.

Although Newhall Ranch lacks Ahmanson’s federal and state protections, it too had the restrictive rural designation in the Los Angeles County General Plan. It is now up to us, the public, to save both of these ranches and our quality of life. These massive developments will overload air quality and commuter routes that are already at a breaking point. In addition, they will destroy endangered and locally important species in these resource-packed ranch areas.

Mary E. Wiesbrock

Agoura Hills