TREE A SLOW GROWTH ISSUE.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer STEVENSON RANCH Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. - The 400-year-old oak tree at the center of the passionate protests staged by environmentalists and local residents has become a symbol of the community's frustration with the Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, Valley's rapid growth. ``This is our Alamo Alamo Eighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. ,'' said Lynne Plambeck, the first vice president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment, a sponsor of the protest that has lasted three weeks.. ``Collectively, this community is drawing a line in the sand and saying no more in the strongest possible terms.'' Although it certainly isn't the first centuries-old oak tree to be cut down in the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. to make way for development - and no one expects it will be the last - the tree dubbed Old Glory has stirred the passions of not only environmentalists but regular families who are upset that the suburban dream they bought along with their tract house has not turned out the way they'd hoped. ``It's not just one oak tree,'' said Teresa Savaikie, a Saugus mother active in several environmental groups. ``We're facing the total destruction of the Santa Clarita Valley. This beautiful valley is being replaced with boxes on top of hills.'' Underneath the boughs of the majestic tree, nostalgic residents interrupt each other as they recount the good old days - when Santa Clarita was a small town, a world away from suburban frustrations that arrived with the thousands of homes built over the last two decades. ``It was a beautiful canyon,'' said Suzette Lagasse-Roderick, whose father used to pump oil in Pico Canyon, not far from the tree that county officials say must be removed to make way for a four-lane road. ``It has been destroyed. There's no land left for people to enjoy. And for what? Money.'' More recent arrivals recall why they moved to the Santa Clarita Valley in the first place - better schools, less crime and lush wide-open hillsides and canyons. ``The equation is out of whack whack v. whacked, whack·ing, whacks v.tr. 1. To strike (someone or something) with a sharp blow; slap. 2. Slang To kill deliberately; murder. v.intr. ,'' said Barbara Wood-dritz, who moved to Santa Clarita a year and a half ago from Glendale. ``We moved up here for the rustic beauty of mountains and the oaks - and instead we got wanton Grossly careless or negligent; reckless; malicious. The term wanton implies a reckless disregard for the consequences of one's behavior. A wanton act is one done in heedless disregard for the life, limbs, health, safety, reputation, or property rights of bulldozing.'' Santa Clarita is one of the fastest-growing areas in California, which is struggling to cope with an unprecedented demand for homes from a skyrocketing population. Members of SCOPE and the Friends of the Santa Clara River Santa Clara River may refer to:
``This has turned into something much bigger than we expected,'' Plambeck said. ``We have stood up in a way that never happened before. Environmentalists intend to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. the fervor created by the standoff over the tree and are already drawing up plans to oppose the Newhall Ranch project at a Board of Supervisors hearing scheduled for January and the RiverPark development that will be heard by the City Council late next year. ``This tree has changed the tide in Santa Clarita,'' Savaikie said. ``People are saying, Enough is enough.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Environmental activist John Quigley John B. Quigley is a professor of law at the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, where he is the Presidents' Club Professor of Law. In 1995 he was recipient of The Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award. waves from his perch in an ancient oak tree dubbed ``Old Glory.'' Plans to move the tree to a preserve are being met with skepticism by protesters. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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