PRIME DESERT WOODLANDS IS A REALITY AT LAST.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - After years of hunting for funding, negotiating land purchases and fighting through construction delays, the city dedicated the first phase of the Prime Desert Woodlands, an oasis of native desert life amid urban development.

The preserve contains such desert flora as Joshua trees, California junipers and creosote bushes on 65 acres the city began acquiring in the 1980s to keep it from being turned into housing tracts, which now surround the area.

``It will remain as a kind of time capsule - a major glimpse of what the Antelope Valley was like,'' Mayor Frank Roberts said at the dedication ceremony, with about 100 guests looking on.

Located at Avenue K-8 and 35th Street West, the centerpiece of the preserve's first phase is a 5,060-square-foot interpretive center made of straw bales. The building is one of the larger - possibly the largest - ever constructed from straw bales.

The interpretive center contains historic photographs of the Antelope Valley, a diorama of desert wildlife, a ``touch table'' at which visitors can examine animal skins and bones and desert rocks, and a small gift shop.

The center is named after Elyze Clifford, a Lancaster resident who pushed the city into preserving the land back in the 1980s. City officials said Clifford had talked almost incessantly about the need to preserve the property.

``The preserve was one of her last wishes,'' Roberts said. ``This is what she has given the Antelope Valley.''

Tapping into state and county grant sources, the city acquired $4 million for land purchases for the project. The city assembled the first phase of the project from 17 different parcels, acquiring land as willing buyers, and funding, could be found.

The city plans to buy approximately 35 more acres to complete the woodlands.

The first phase includes about 1.5 miles of trails with interpretive signs and benches.

One sign notes that not everyone was impressed by the sight of Joshua trees. U.S. Army officer and explorer John Fremont, who crossed the Antelope Valley in 1844, described Joshua trees as ``the most repulsive tree in the vegetative kingdom.''

The preserve also includes a creosote bush believed to be more than 800 years old. It is possibly the oldest living organism in the Antelope Valley.

Fremont was more generous in his view of the creosote bush, calling it ``a rather graceful plant.''

``I'm very impressed. We've been waiting for this for several years,'' said Lancaster resident Bill Pullen, one of the people touring the preserve Tuesday morning. ``I love this area.''

The preserve improvements began in February 1999 but stopped in September of that year when the original contractor, M.A. Butters of Rancho Cucamonga, was declared in default. City officials said the contractor was behind and showed no promise of getting on schedule.

In June 2000, Butters filed a $3.2 million lawsuit against Lancaster, saying city officials failed to provide adequate specifications for the straw-bale interpretive center. In November, construction began again after city officials and Butters' bonding company reached an agreement on how to finance the rest of the work.

The bonding company brought in Hanes and Associates, a Lancaster company, to finish the project.

Through October, the preserve will be hosting a series of nature talks.

The first is a discussion on early Antelope Valley American Indians at 5 p.m. Saturday. That will be followed by a nature trail photography session at 5 p.m. Oct. 13; a ``starry evening'' with Antelope Valley astronomers at 6 p.m. Oct. 20; and will wrap up with a visit from animals from the Devil's Punch Bowl at 4 p.m. Oct. 27.

Trails are open between sunrise and sunset. The interpretive center will be open from dawn to 9:30 a.m. and again from 2:30 p.m. to sunset Mondays through Fridays and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jack Farley, a ranger at Devil's Punch Bowl, brought Ruth, a 10-week-old barn owl, to Tuesday's dedication ceremony.

(2) Desert wildlife expert Milt Stark, Carol Coulter of Quartz Hill, center, and Gillian Bowman of Lancaster begin exploring a trail Tuesday at the Prime Desert Woodlands. The interpretive center of the new preserve is in the background.

(3) A display of desert animals is shown inside the interpretive center, named after Elyze Clifford, who pushed for the preservation of land back in the 1980s.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer