LAWMAKERS BACK $1 MILLION FOR BACKBONE TRAIL.Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer Inching closer to completion, the long-planned Backbone Trail spanning 70 miles of 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. could gain critical funding after federal lawmakers Tuesday approved $1 million for the project as part of a spending measure for parkland purchases. The funding would pay for four parcels of land to help plug a gap more than 8 miles long that straddles the Los Angeles-Ventura county line. An added $3 million likely will be needed to complete the gap, officials said. ``This will be wonderful. We are getting very close to finally connecting the trail,'' said John Diaz, chief of planning and land acquisition for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1979 and dedicated to the acquisition of land in the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills, north and west of Los Angeles, for preservation as open , which has helped to piece together the trail. The Backbone Trail extends 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 Palisades, cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). to Point Mugu State Park Point Mugu State Park is a large park located in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in Southern California. It is in the Western Santa Monica Mountains. The park can be accessed from the north in the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center and from the south in Ventura County. Initiated some 20 years ago to link 60,000 acres of parkland within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: see National Parks and Monuments (table). , the Backbone Trail draws more than 2 million hikers each year and serves as a wildlife corridor through the mountains. ``Imagine an extended hike that gets you away with each step from the hectic life of Los Angeles and into the mountains,'' said Congressman Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, a member of the House of Representatives Member of the House of Representatives member n (US) → membre m de la Chambre des représentants budget committee and chief proponent of the Backbone Trail funding. ``You don't have to go to Wyoming. You only have to go south of the 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. ,'' he said. The funding proposal is part of a $699 million package approved by the House last week and the Senate on Tuesday and now awaiting President Clinton's approval. The bill earmarks about $400 million for special projects, including the Backbone Trail. The remaining $300 million will be available in discretionary funds, and Sherman said he has pushed the Clinton administration to allocate additional funds to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. ``At this point, it is impossible to say how additional funds would be used,'' said Arthur Eck, National Park Service superintendent for the recreation area. ``I think the Backbone Trail is one of the most significant recreational facilities, so completion is definitely a priority,'' he added. ``It is also a crucial wildlife corridor connecting lands in the Santa Monica Mountains.'' Trail planners estimate that completing the Backbone Trail could cost more than $4 million. In a fund-raising campaign initiated last fall, the Mountains Conservancy Foundation already has raised about $200,000 in private donations and expects an additional $200,000 in a matching grant from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. ``One million is not going to buy all the land it takes to complete this trail,'' said Milt McAuley, a well-known hiker in the area and author of seven books on the Santa Monica Mountains including a guide to the Backbone through and through; thoroughly; entirely. - Lord Lytton. See also: Backbone Trail. He said, however, that such funds are important to completing a critical link in the Santa Monica Mountains. |
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