Conservancy To Expand Land Holdings

The expansion plan has been approved by the legislature, but would not give the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy any ability to halt existing plans for 636-home subdivision and gravel mine. The expansion would seek to protect wildlife habitat in 57,000 acres of the Santa Clara River Watershed, from from Whitney Canyon in Newhall to Kentucky Springs Canyon at the edge of Palmdale. The Conservancy was allocated $2.5 million in this year's budget to begin acquiring land.