6K-acre ranch in northern LA County purchased for preservation

A ranch in northern Los Angeles County containing thousands of acres of sage scrub has been acquired with public funds for habitat preservation.

The nonprofit Trust for Public Land bought the last section of the 6,000-acre Hathaway/Temescal Ranch to preserve what had been the largest undeveloped piece of private property in the county, KFI640 AM reported. It paid $3.5 million for the final 3,600 acres from an undisclosed seller.

“This is a big deal,” said State Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot in a statement. “This acquisition will help preserve biodiversity, expand outdoor access for Angelenos and sequester carbon as we combat climate change.”

The purchase last month marked the third and final phase of the acquisition on the border with Ventura County between Castaic Reservoir and Lake Piru.

The ranch, used for grazing, has a modest ranch house but is otherwise undeveloped. The property includes wetlands and rolling hills. It lies below the flight path for endangered California condors from the nearby Sespe Condor Sanctuary.

It’s also home to bears, mountain lions and one of the most extensive stands of coastal sage scrub and chaparral in Southern California, wildlife experts said. It will expand wildlife corridors between the San Gabriel, Sierra Madre and Santa Susana mountains.

The acquisition, paid for with taxpayer funds, took place in three phases by the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land.

The land has now been transferred to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a government agency exercising joint powers of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Conejo and Rancho Simi Recreation and Park districts.

An overall purchase price was not disclosed, but officials said it included $3.5 million from the voter-approved Proposition 117 to secure the final phase. The state Wildlife Conservation Board funded roughly half of the purchase, officials said.

The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, which has been working with the state and the Trust for Public Land to protect the property, announced in 2020 the acquisition of roughly 1,200 acres of the ranch land for $1.6 million.

“One out of 10 times you go there you see a condor,” Dash Stolarz, a spokesperson for the MRCA, said. “There is evidence of bears, there are mountain lions, birds, sycamores and a wetland. It is just amazing.”

[KFI640 AM, Los Angeles Daily News] – Dana Bartholomew

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