COUNTY WILL SEEK HABITAT FUNDS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Moving to preserve Santa Monica Mountain wetlands, Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to seek $1.2 million from the state for 800 acres they say are key to the survival of turtles, bats and other wildlife.

The state Department of Parks and Recreation recently solicited applications for funding through the Habitat Conservation Fund of the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990, according to county documents.

The county Department of Parks and Recreation now wants to buy four parcels of land for $3.58 million.

The first property is a 120-acre, privately owned wetland in the Zuniga Creek area at Zuniga Road and Old Topanga Canyon Boulevard. It is a critical habitat for western pond turtles, nesting raptors, Western mastiff bats and San Diego coast horned lizards, all listed by the state as species of special concern.

The land abuts state-owned parklands.

The second property is 40 acres in the Secret Valley area adjacent to 90 acres of county-owned land. The county would eventually like to obtain 314 acres in the area. To the east, the city of Calabasas, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Restoration Trust are negotiating for an additional 135 contiguous acres.

Both are key parcels that will determine the future of the area - whether it remains mountain lion and deer habitat or is developed into five 10-acre ranchettes.

The third property is a 190-acre parcel in the Calabasas Peak area near Stunt Road. The purchase would protect a state-listed rare plant called the Santa Susana tarplant and the California and San Diego horned lizards, along with 27 other species of special concern.

Purchase of the property would help complete a 3,000-acre wilderness area spanning the Topanga and Cold Creek watersheds, protecting a leg of the county trail system.

The fourth property is a 450-acre parcel in the Cold Creek area located near Western Cold Creek Preserve between Stunt Road and Cold Canyon Road south of Mulholland Highway.

Purchase of the 1.4-mile stretch would protect several species while retaining a critical segment of the east-west wildlife corridor between Topanga State Park and Malibu Creek State Park.