Santa Monica Mountains Acquires More Land For Conservation

Triangle Ranch, a 325-acre Santa Monica Mountains property once earmarked for the construction of luxury homes, will now be preserved as permanent open space. The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) announced a few days ago that it closed escrow on the property in the central Santa Monica Mountains south of the city of Agoura Hills. The breathtaking landscape, visible to thousands of daily motorists on Kanan Road, has long been identified as a crucial linkage for habitat preservation, watershed protection, and wildlife movement.

This final, Phase 4 acquisition represented an effort of many years and multiple public funding sources and demonstrates the tenacity of the MRCA, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and area elected officials to preserve the ecologically significant gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains. The MRCA was able to cobble together funds to purchase the property in phases, beginning with the Phase 1 acquisition of 60 acres in 2018. The acquisition of Phases 2 and 3 (40 and 70 acres, respectively,) followed soon after. The purchase of the final 150 acres proved to be the most challenging.

At the request of State Senator Henry Stern and Assemblymember Richard Bloom, Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2021-2022 State Budget set aside $8 million for the Phase 4 acquisition. This contributes to California’s 30 x 30 initiative commitment to combat the global biodiversity and climate crises and conserve at least 30 percent of California’s land and coastal waters by the year 2030.

For more details, please read the source article by John Loesing.