LANCASTER TO WEIGH PLAN BIDS; VEGETATION, CENTER ON TAP FOR DESERT PRESERVE AREA.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Lancaster will consider awarding a bid to begin the first-phase improvements for the long-sought Prime Desert Woodlands, a preserve of Joshua trees Joshua tree: see yucca. and other desert vegetation. The City Council will considering awarding M.A. Butters & Associates, a San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. firm, a contract for the $1.8 million project. The first phase, which covers about 60 acres, will build a 42-space parking lot, a 5,060-square-foot center made of straw bales A straw bale is a bundle of straw tightly bound with twine or wire. Bales may be square, rectangular, or round, depending on the type of baler used. When bales are used to build or insulate buildings, the straw bales are commonly finished with plaster. , trails, shaded rest areas and interpretative in·ter·pre·ta·tive adj. Variant of interpretive. in·ter  pre·ta signs. ``Once people get on it and use it they will see the value of a preserve in an urban setting,'' said Lyle Norton, director of Lancaster's Parks, Recreation and Arts Department. The first phase covers an area from Avenue K, adjacent to Rawley Duntley Park, to south of Avenue K-8, east of Nancy Cory School. The first-phase project is being funded through a variety of grants, including money from the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Safe Neighborhood Parks Neighborhood parks, which generally range in size up to 30 acres, serve as a social and recreational focal points for neighborhoods and are the basic units of a park system. Many include a playground. Act and Caltrans' Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation program. The council will consider awarding the contract at its meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers, 44933 Fern Ave. When completed, the preserve will cover nearly 100 acres in an area bordered roughly by Avenues K-4 and K-8 between 33rd Street West and 40th Street West. The area was selected for preservation because of its combination of Joshua trees, California junipers and creosote creosote (krē`əsōt), volatile, heavy, oily liquid obtained by the distillation of coal tar or wood tar. Creosote derived from beechwood tar has been used medicinally as an antiseptic and in the treatment of chronic bronchitis. bushes. Lancaster has acquired more than 70 acres and is in negotiations with various property owners to acquire the remaining portions. The push for preservation of woodlands began as the city began to experience a population boom in the 1980s, when the city grew from 48,000 people to 102,000. Lancaster officials in 1983 established restrictions on development in the woodlands, including a requirement that developers set aside half their land untouched when they build homes. A 1988 study recommended that the city purchase the woodlands, saying the existing regulations would have left the city with small plots of Joshua trees scattered among homes. |
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