WILD WHITNEY STATE MONEY THE FIRST STEP IN SAVING CANYON.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer NEWHALL - The city of 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, and 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 will use $2.5 million in state money to begin buying land in Whitney Canyon in order to preserve it as open space. Negotiations with the owner of the land are ongoing, although a deal does not appear to be imminent, said J.T. Edmiston, the executive director of the conservancy. City officials are hoping that a deal to annex the canyon to Santa Clarita will be completed when it is purchased, Deputy City Manager Rick Putnam said. Once completed, it would extend the city boundaries for the first time past the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. . ``Any time we get money in this city it is a great day,'' said Mayor Jo Anne Darcy before she accepted a symbolic check from Assemblyman George Runner George C. Runner, Jr. (born March 25 1952 in Scotia, New York) is a Republican California State Senator, who represents the 17th Senate District, which includes portions of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County and Ventura County. , R-Lancaster, at the mouth of Whitney Canyon under gray skies and a light drizzle. Whitney Canyon is adjacent to Elsmere Canyon, where the city successfully prevented a landfill from being built on federal land. The $2.5 million is only a small part of what it would take to buy all of the canyon and protect it from development. ``But this money gives us a foundation to go after more money,'' Darcy said. City Council members have pledged to protect open space 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. . The conservancy and the city are partnering to protect the Newhall canyons, located at the southeast end of San Fernando Road San Fernando Road is a major street in the city and county of Los Angeles. It starts off in Castaic as The Old Road, passing through Santa Clarita and the Newhall Pass, where upon its intersection with Sierra Highway near the junction of the Golden State (I-5) and the . ``Its important that these areas not only be preserved but made accessible to the public,'' Runner said, after touring the canyon with several park rangers. A half-dozen people held signs during the ceremony urging the city council to vote to remove the gate blocking the Calgrove Boulevard freeway off-ramp. ``We just want to keep the issue in front of people,'' said Glenda Bora bo·ra n. A violent, cold, northeasterly winter wind on the Adriatic Sea. [Italian dialectal, from Latin Bore of Citizens Against Barricades. ``We accomplished what we needed to.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Rorie Skei, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy deputy director, is part of the Whitney Canyon preservation effort. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News |
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