BUDGET INCLUDES MORE PARK LAND.Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Southern California's great outdoors will be more accessible under projects included in the $16.6 billion Interior Department budget for 2000-01, officials said Friday. The measure, signed into law this week by President Clinton, includes $2 million to buy land and expand the 65-mile Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: see National Parks and Monuments (table). . The funds were secured by Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, who was also successful in his request for $1.3 million to build new public facilities in the Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a low transverse range in southern California in the United States. Geography They run for approximately 40 mi (64 km) east-west from the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles to Point Mugu in Ventura County. at Solstice Canyon in Malibu. The Backbone Trail follows the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains from Will Rogers State Historic Park Will Rogers State Historic Park is the former estate of American humorist Will Rogers. It lies in the Santa Monica mountains in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Palisades area. in Pacific Palisades to Point Mugu in Ventura County. In another Southern California project, a dangerous stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (also known as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail) is a long-distance mountain hiking and equestrian trail that runs from the United States border with Mexico to its border with Canada and follows the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and will be relocated away from busy Agua Dulce Canyon Road under a $3.4 million project secured by Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita. Under the plan, private land will be purchased in the Agua Dulce area and a new, more scenic route will be established for the trail, which stretches 2,650 miles through California, Oregon and Washington. McKeon also obtained $2 million that the U.S. Forst Service will use to buy other pockets of privately held land in the Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los , and $900,000 to improve water and sewage systems. The budget features $2.5 million for the purchase of private land within the boundaries of the San Bernardino National Forest San Bernardino National Forest has two main divisions which are the San Bernardino Mountains on the easternmost of the Transverse Range, and the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains on the northernmost of the Peninsular Range. and $1 million for land acquisition within a newly designated Santa Rosa National Monument in Riverside County. Development will be restricted in the new 400-square-mile preserve, which includes parts of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains in the Palm Springs area. Sen. Dianne Feinstein secured $5.1 million to build a visitors center at the Manzanar National Historic Site Manzanar National Historic Site: see National Parks and Monuments (table). near Independence in the Owens Valley. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion