PARK BOARD BUYS WILDLIFE CORRIDOR.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

Ending a three-year quest, the local park district has purchased three parcels south of Corriganville Park that will help preserve a crucial wildlife corridor and provide an open-space buffer area.

The Rancho Simi Recreation and Parks District paid $84,000 for the 21.18 acres, which will preserve the Stagecoach Trail, provide a trail linking Corriganville and the Lilac Lane trailhead, and help buffer Corriganville Park from development.

``It's another piece of a puzzle,'' said Jim Meredith, board chairman. ``It's a link to the stageline. That's how people got into our valley a long time ago from the San Fernando Valley. Hopefully, we'll have it all one day.''

Since it is land that was acquired out of opportunity rather than necessity, the park district officials said they have no idea what to do with it yet.

Unlike the main section of Corriganville, which is owned jointly by the park district and the city of Simi Valley, this new land will be owned solely by the district.

The purchase was offered to the Rancho Simi Open Space Conservation Agency, but the city representatives on the board declined.

``This land has a historical significance with the old railroad running through it,'' said Jerry Gladden, general manager of the park district. ``We saw it as a protective purchase to prevent development near the park. Since we got a grant for half the price, it was worth going ahead with.''

Because the parcels could help preserve a wildlife corridor linking the Los Padres and Angeles national forests within the Santa Monica Mountains, the district was able to use a $64,500 grant from the state's Habitat Conservation Program to help pay for it.

The land is located between the Southern Pacific railroad tracks to the north and Santa Susana Pass Road to the south.

The district began the process of acquiring the land in August 1996, but confusion over title delayed the sale. The land was owned by a private family trust, of which many people and nonprofit organizations had shares.

District officials said that there are a few smaller parcels nearby that they'd like to acquire as well, to fill in gaps in the park.

Gladden said that since the property lines in the rugged foothill area tend to blur because of the way they were recorded as people were buying and selling decades ago, it was difficult to get a handle on exactly who owned the land.

As part of its grant to the district, the state normally requires a complete and accurate title search before releasing the funds. Gladden said that for a long while, the district couldn't get a title company to touch the property records because they were so convoluted.

Eventually, the state relented and waived the requirement, asking only that every reasonable attempt be made to come up with proof of ownership.

``We got the best documentation we could, and we'll live with it until someone contests it,'' Gladden said.

For now, the land will be a buffer for the main section of Corriganville, an opportunity for the park district to control what happens around the parkland.

Although Corriganville was a tourist attraction when it housed the Silvertown movie sets, the park was closed after it was purchased by actor Bob Hope. Two fires destroyed the Old West sets in the 1970s.

The huge park reopened to the public a year ago, and the Rancho Simi Open Space Conservation Agency has worked to establish it as a destination again.

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PHOTO Rick Johnson, left, and Jim Merideth take in a view of the Simi park district's property purchase adjacent to Corriganville Park.

Tina Gerson/Daily News