TEJON PRESERVE UNVEILED PRIVATE, PUBLIC FUNDS TO MAINTAIN PROPERTY.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

GORMAN - Just beyond where Los Angeles County meets the Kern County border, rolling hills and clusters of oaks stretch as far as the eye can see.

Described as one of the most ecologically diverse regions in California, the 162-year-old Tejon Ranch covers 270,000 acres where the Mojave Desert meets the Sierra Nevadas, where mountain peaks reach 6,800 feet above sea level and the Pacific Crest Trail winds southwest, a juxtaposition in topography, climate and habitat.

On Tuesday, officials with Tejon Ranch Co. and the Trust for Public Land announced plans to set aside 100,000 acres as a nature preserve. If all goes well, they say, money from a combination of private and public entities will trickle in, helping to maintain the property.

``We think we have struck a fair balance between conservation and development,'' said Bob Stein, president of the Tejon Ranch Co. ``Our goal has been to find a balance so that we can preserve the ranch land.''

The 270,000 acres of Tejon Ranch is the biggest piece of privately owned - and what looks like virtually undeveloped - land in California. That could change, as a proposal for 23,000 homes on the Los Angeles County side of the property winds its way through the county planning process.

The master-plan community of Centennial is planned east of the junction of Interstate 5 and state Highway 138, which links the I-5 to the Antelope Valley.

Tejon Ranch officials say the development plans are independent of the preserve. They say the preserve is intended to serve as a model for conservation, protect sensitive habitat and allow some public access.

Ranch officials said 35 percent of the ranch will be preserved, while 5 percent will be developed.

For two years, biologists, ecologists and geologists from a northern California-based consulting firm inspected and analyzed the property to catalog its animal and plant life, its watersheds and woodlands to determine which represented the best of a diverse ecology.

``We agreed the scientists could go anywhere on the ranch,'' Stein said. ``For us, conservation comes first, development second.''

Officials with the Trust for Public Land, a national, nonprofit conservation group, said there is little time hesitate to preserve land in a time of housing demands.

``I think the landowners are committed to conservation,'' said Reed Holderman, executive director for the Trust. ``We're happy we have arrived at this point. This is an important first step because we signed a contract to help acquire this property.''

But some in the environmental community remain skeptical of the plan.

A map of the 100,000-acre preserve shows a divide between a wider 80,000-acre stretch, called the Highlands Core, and about 20,000 acres, known as Comanche Point.

``If I had my own say, I would preserve the whole ranch,'' said Mary Ann Lockhart, spokeswoman for the Kern-Kaweah Chapter of the Sierra Club.

``The preserve is not connected,'' she said. ``There's nothing in- between. That doesn't seem wise.''

And she believes that, in a time when nature preserves are unlikely to be funded by private corporations, the public will end up paying for the reserve, she said.

``Which agencies are going to run it?'' she asked. ``One of our biologists said it's good they are doing something, but only if they do that something correctly.''

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) An old Chumash cemetery is part of thousands of acres Tejon Ranch will be setting aside for use as a wildlife preserve. The deal for the land was announced Tuesday by Tejon Ranch Co. and the Trust for Public Land.

(2 -- color) Tejon Ranch President Bob Stein says the deal strikes ``a fair balance between conservation and development.''

(3 -- color) Reed Holderman of the Trust for Public Land answers questions during the announcement of the land preserve.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

Map:

TEJON RANCH PRESERVE

SOURCE: Tejon Ranch and Trust for Public Land

Daily News