We all know that land preservation and protected corridors are the key ingredients to ensure that our native predators persist and thrive into the next Millenium............my home City of Los Angeles is the focus of a study on the potential for expanding the protected acres of the Santa Monica National Recreation Area......a true jewel in heavily urban SoCal

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Kellett [mailto:kellett@restore.org]
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 2:55 PM
Subject: NPS Rim of the Valley Study, Topanga Messenger, 20100923

http://www.topangamessenger.com/Articles.asp?SectionID=1&ArticleID=4080

VOL.34  NO.19

9/23/2010-10/6/2010

NPS Rim of the Valley Study

The National Park Service (NPS) is hosting the first of many public meetings throughout the area to seek public comment on the Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study.

The four-year study will look at the potential for expanding the boundary of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA), a unit of the National Park System since 1978. SMMNRA includes 150,000 acres of private, local, state and federal lands under a unique partnership umbrella.

The study area covers more than 650,000 acres of the mountains encircling the San Fernando, La Crescenta, Santa Clarita, Simi and Conejo Valleys of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, as well as the majority of SMMNRA and portions of the Angeles National Forest that serve as the headwaters of the Los Angeles River. Approximately half of the acreage of the study area is publically owned.

The study will respect existing land uses, current land management efforts, and private property rights. Recommendations may relate to the entire study area, or only portions of it.

The study, carried out over the next four years, will provide opportunities for public involvement throughout the process and for the NPS and local communities to think creatively about how to care for the resources that they value in their communities; how to tell the stories of the important events that occurred there; how to protect significant natural and cultural resources while providing for a high quality of life; and how to highlight the uniqueness and vitality of a given area.

Meetings closest to Topanga will take place on Tuesday, September 14, 7 to 9 p.m., at the Mason Recreation Center, 10500 Mason Ave., Chatsworth, CA 91311 and Monday, October 4, 7 to 9 p.m., at King Gillette Ranch, Dormitory Bldg., 26800 Mulholland Hwy., Calabasas, CA 91302.

The initial public comment period extends through October 29, 2010, with additional public input opportunities throughout the four-year study process.

For more information contact Anne Dove, Project Manager at (323) 441-9307 or e-mail the study team at pwr_rimofthevalley@nps.gov.

A newsletter, maps and more information are available at: www.nps.gov/pwro/rimofthevalley.