The Rim of the Valley Corridor Study, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA 29th, if approved by Congress, will direct the Department of Interior to study areas in the Santa Monica, Santa Susanna, San Gabriel, and Verdugo Mountains as well as wildlife connector areas in the Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests.

 

“I’d like to see the Department of Interior recommend a way that we can maintain some of the quality of the open space that we enjoy, better manage the limited resources that we have, try new constructive ways to have public, private partnerships that benefit both the public and benefit the private land owners in the region,” Schiff said, “and ensure that future generations can enjoy the same quality of life that drew people here to Southern California for generations.”

 

Schiff testified to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands House Committee on Natural Resources that he proposed the study in response to the rapidly growing population in Southern California. Schiff cited the low ratio of open space and recreation areas per-thousand people in the region as a primary need for the study and possible federal protection of the land.

 

However, within the existing Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area that was created in 1978, there are still some 30,000 acres of privately owned land that the federal government has yet to purchase. Woody Smeck, an employee of the National Park Service at the Santa Monica Recreation Area, said that in 2006 Congress allocated $2 million to purchase lands. With that money Park Service was able to negotiate the purchase of approximately 91 acres, leaving some 29,900 acres of land that Park Service does not have the money to purchase.

 

The remaining land and Congress’ inability to fund its acquisition causes major concern for National Land Rights Association Executive Director Chuck Cushman and Ty Sisson, a land owner who says his land has been trapped in the Santa Monica Recreation Area for nearly 30 years.

 

“If Congress will not give money to the Santa Monica Mountains for completion because they’re broke and they don’t have the funds, why would they ever try to create a Rim of the Valley Park which is an extension of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area that’s going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars?” Sisson said.

 

The land surrounding Sisson’s property in Zuma Canyon was purchased in the initial land acquisitions in 1978. But before purchasing his land, Park Service moved on, leaving his property surrounded by federally owned and protected land that he said limits the use of his property.

 

“The Park Service will tell you there are no restrictions. But that’s not true because if I ever decide to use my land, the Sierra Club and every other environmental agency in the world would file lawsuits and go crazy because they would not want Ty Sisson to sell his property to build a house in the middle of Zuma Canyon,” Sisson said. “It would be like an eyesore. It would be an intrusion into the park. Nobody would want me to build and I don’t intend to build. I don’t want to build. I’d like to sell my property.”

 

But Sisson said that the legal complications stemming from the National Park Association’s legal responsibility to maintain indigenous habitats and restore those habitats where they have been upset destroys the appeal of his property to other private investors, rendering his land useless to him until Congress allocates the necessary funds to purchase it.

 

“I agree with Ty,” Smeck said. “There is an expectation among property owners that the funds will be appropriated to actually accomplish the vision that was stated in the authorization. Today, we still have a little bit of work to do.”

Within the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study area, there are some 169,000 private land parcels that could be assimilated into federal control.

 

However, because of the infancy of the study, Rep. Schiff said, “You can’t presuppose what parts of the Rim of the Valley the Department of Interior might recommend for inclusion and you can’t presuppose that their recommendation is going to be some massive land purchase from willing sellers in that area either.” He said that the conclusion could be to facilitate existing partnerships between private land owners and Park Service to maintain the open spaces without massive federal-land purchases.

 

Schiff cited a Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation, Inc. letter stating an amicable relationship with National Park and National Forest Services as evidence that a partnership can be forged to create private stewardship over federally protected land. Smeck also said that the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area was unique for its private, public partnership in maintaining the land.

 

“It’s the private owners inside the boundaries that are really the stewards of the land,” he said. “We don’t own a large enough percentage to really affect a large stewardship plan. It requires collaboration with local property owners to make it work.”

 

Rep. Schiff said that whatever the recommendation from the Department of Interior may be, it will require a separate Congressional decision to approve and implement those recommendations.

 

The Rim of the Valley Corridor Study is currently being reviewed by a Congressional committee. No voting date has been set.