National Public Lands Day on September 25th marked our official return, with a special project at Peter Strauss Ranch, which was severely damaged in the 2018 Woolsey Fire and is temporarily closed to the public.
Following a brief project orientation and work safety presentation, we distributed and demonstrated tools before heading out onto the trail in small groups. Volunteers helped to restore the trail tread (surface) with digging tools, and cut back heavily overgrown vegetation and fallen tree limbs with saws, loppers and shears to open up the trail corridor.
Our work to repair this scenic half-mile hiking trail is part of a larger effort by the National Park Service to address the impacts of the fire and restore this historic site to a safe condition, with tentative plans for the park to be reopened to visitors in the coming months.
The volunteers of our 2021 National Public Lands Day event
Among our NPLD volunteers was the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Director, Morgan Goodwin, who blogged about his experience as a trail crew volunteer on the Chapter website.
Special projects aside, our trail crew works on routine upkeep of the trails most Saturday mornings from October through June, and folks are free to come and go from the crew as their availability allows.
Click here to learn more about volunteering with the “Trailies” of the Santa Monica Mountains Task Force!
Featured image: National Public Lands Day 2021 | Photo by John Nilsson
The following was sent out by Jonathan Howard, Communications Coordinator for the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, on October 6th, 2021:
On March 30th, 2021, city planning director Vince Bertoni released a memo removing a large number of land parcels from being included in the Mulholland Design Review Board public process, which has been the single most effective tool for preserving wildlife corridors on speculative development sites for the past thirty years. By taking this action, the Director of Planning has given an immediate free pass to hillside developments which could completely disrupt or block wildlife connectivity for threatened populations such as mountain lion, deer, bobcats and more.
If we reduce protections in this area, we will allow even further irreversible damage to occur. It would only take one ill-planned project to disrupt or block wildlife connectivity completely.
Help us keep up the ongoing momentum for this campaign.
A statewide election to recall Governor Newsom is scheduled for September 14, 2021.
The Sierra Club strongly opposes this recall, and the Santa Monica Mountains Task Force urges you to vote NO on question 1 of your ballot.
You should all be aware that if the recall effort is successful, it could have a devastating impact on the environment here in California and in the Santa Monica Mountains in particular. The Governor has control over appointments and regulations, and a successful recall could significantly impair California’s efforts to address the climate crisis and protect the communities that are feeling its worst of impacts. Not only that, but the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) may well be in jeopardy if the recall is successful. Even the selection of a United Senator would be in the hands of a Governor who is not at all sympathetic to the environmental issues facing California today.
Don’t take the chance of these results befalling our local communities.
This recall election is purely political, with candidates vying for the governorship in what is essentially a power grab. Recalls should be reserved for instances where a public official demonstrates an incapacity to serve or, as with an impeachment subject, commits bribery, treason or other high crimes or misdemeanors.
Ballots have been mailed to every registered voter in the state, so please vote as soon as possible to have your ballot counted by September 14.
Again, the Sierra Club urges you to vote NO on the recall.
Many people in Los Angeles today do not know about Leo Carrillo, though some may remember him as Poncho in the 1950s hit TV show The Cisco Kid.
However, I know Leo Carrillo as an environmentalist who made huge contributions to the Santa Monica Mountains and California during his 18-year tenure as a Commissioner on the California State Beach and Parks Commission.
Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo, known as Leo Carrillo, was a native Californian, born on August 6th,1880. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was a child, and the Santa Monica Mountains became his playground.
In the 1930s, he moved to a 14-acre-ranch with his wife and daughter. Living nearby in the Santa Monica Mountains, with his own family, was Will Rogers. They were close friends.
Will Rogers and Leo Carrillo enjoyed a long friendship that began when they performed in the same Vaudeville show on the New York stage, Rogers as a rope twirler and Carrillo as a monologist at the beginning of their acting careers. According to a memoir by Leo Carrillo, at one time the two shared an apartment in New York they called “The California I Love”. Carrillo and Rogers both branched out into film; as a result, they moved their families from New York to Los Angeles.
“It was remarkable… Will Rogers was building a vast estate where he could rope calves and ride his horses in the hills of Santa Monica close to my own home,” Carrillo wrote in his memoir.
Beginning in 1942, Carrillo served on California’s State Beach and Parks Commission until just before his death in 1961. He was appointed to the position by California State Governor Earl Warren.
Will Rogers died in 1935 in a private airplane accident in Alaska. Roger’s widow Betty inherited the land in the Santa Monica Mountains, which at one time stretched over 300 acres. However, during the Great Depression, it was difficult for her maintain the property without Rogers.
In the 1940s, Betty tried to donate the land to the State of California; however, it was during World War II, and a poor economy. As a result, the state declined her offer.
However, Carrillo’s close ties to Will Roger’s family, and his work on the State Parks Commission, influenced the state of California to accept the land.
In June 1944 just before her death, Betty Rogers deeded 186.5 acres of land to the State of California. The deed was for the establishment and maintenance of a public land, to be known as Will Rogers State Historic Park. It would serve as a place of enjoyment for the public, and a fitting historic monument to Will Rogers.
The next time you visit 1501 Will Rogers State Park Road in Pacific Palisades to go hiking, watch a polo match, or tour the home where Will and Betty Rogers raised their children and entertained celebrities and socialites, remember that Leo Carrillo helped make it possible for all of us to enjoy.
In addition, Carrillo was instrumental in the successful preservation efforts for the Hearst Castle at San Simeon, the Los Angeles Arboretum, as well as the Mexican-style Olvera Street in Los Angeles, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and several other State Parks in California.
Happy Summer, Sierra Clubbers! And Santa Monica Mountains Task Force members and contributors.
My editors asked me for a more positive and upbeat report this time. Sometimes that’s hard, as we look at the dismal and accelerating effects of climate change, drought and heat, particularly in the Santa Monicas. It’s only June, and already we’ve had weather and heat events that didn’t used to be seen until August and September. The fire season is at our doorstep, and the first one (arson) already hit the Palisades Highlands — 1,200 acres burned in beautiful Santa Ynez and Trailer Canyons, in May.
But the good news is that the Club, which has been in lockdown mode for well over a year, is emerging from the cave. Vaccinations have changed everything. Now you don’t see anyone, or hardly anyone, wearing facemasks on the trails and fire roads.
Once the intense summer heat is past, our Trail Crew will resume its work, maintaining trails throughout the mountains. Kudos to crew leaders Rachel Glegg and Bill Vanderberg. Thanks to social media and other outreach efforts, we’ve attracted a huge influx of new blood, honoring our patriarch, founder and godfather Ron Webster, who passed away at the beginning of the year after an amazing life preserving the mountains.
Also resuming this month is our Outings program, under the auspices of Howard Strauss and David Finch. Everyone, from tiger hikers to first-timers, is welcome. I know we’re all itching to get out and hit the trails again.
Meanwhile, our political and legal activism got no time off during the pandemic. We’re firing on all cylinders against the many threats by developers — and even government bureaucrats — to damage the mountains. We’ve got our hands full, even after winning an epic legal victory in the Court of Appeal against a noxious development in Malibu in 2019.
If any of this interests you, please join our next Zoom meeting on August 2nd. Welcome to the Task Force!
Eric Edmunds, Chair Santa Monica Mountains Task Force
The more adventurous aspect of the Sierra Club is dusting itself off and stretching back into action. The Santa Monica Mountains Task Force itself sponsors two Sierra Club hikes every Tuesday: the Tuesday Moderate Hikers (TMH) and the Tuesday Conditioned Hikers (TCH). So if you’re free, join us!
New events are regularly added to our schedule. Bookmark our Activity Calendar to see all upcoming hikes sponsored by the Santa Monica Mountains Task Force.
We typically have 10-20 people on each hike, everyone there to enjoy the outdoors and be with like-minded people. The hikes range all over the Santa Monica Mountains, from Topanga State Park to Point Mugu State Park and everywhere in between. We also hike on adjacent parkland such as Ahmanson Ranch and Cheeseboro Canyon.
The moderate hikes are usually about 8 miles with close to 1,000 ft gain, and the conditioned hikes are usually about 12 miles with about 2,000 ft gain. Of course, that varies from week to week. The moderate hikes usually end in the early afternoon, the conditioned hikes somewhat later. Our hikes are all “O” rated. Most are on very well-established trails; some, not so much!
Photo by Craig Percy
We’re always on the lookout for new leaders to help lead our Tuesday hikes. Becoming a leader is a great way to support the Sierra Club by showing members of the public the land our efforts have helped preserve. If you would like to know more about becoming a Sierra Club leader, contact our Outings Chairs. Information is also available on the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Leadership Training Program web page.
On Sunday, June 27th, members and friends of the SMMTF trail crew held a gathering at the home of Mary Ann Webster to mark the end of the crew’s traditional work season.
During the festivities, we honored longtime volunteer Bill Pitts with the Trail Worker of the Year Award, for which he took home a collection of kudos, and a shiny new pick mattock. Bill has been a dedicated crew member for more than 30 years, beginning with helping to build the Hondo Canyon Trail.
The photographs above and below show Bill with Ron Webster during a 1997 trail project, and working with Russ Marshall and Mary Ann Webster in Hondo Canyon not long before the new trail’s completion in 1993. As you can see, Bill has no qualms about the possibility of getting a bit muddy in the process of trail building!
Since its inception in 1978 to help build the Musch Trail at Trippet Ranch, the trail crew has been blessed with decades of dedicated volunteer work. Little slows them down — even, it would seem, a pandemic.
Working directly for California State Parks as an organized collective of independent volunteers, members of our crew still managed to log more than 1,100 hours of trail maintenance between September 2020 and June 2021. This is easily comparable to — and even surpasses — the Sierra Club crew’s previous years. In those months, these volunteers worked heavily on Rivas Canyon Trail and the Beehive Trail, as well as Saddle Peak, Garapito, Viewridge and others.
Recently, we received this heartening note from Jason Finlay, California State Parks Angeles District Trails Coordinator:
“Last Friday I stopped by Rivas Canyon Trail. Two enthusiastic hikers stopped me to let me know how much they appreciated the work that was done and to say how great the trail looks. Evidently they hike there two or three times a week and said it’s the best it has looked in years. They were also very happy that Sierra Club was active in trail maintenance as they were long time donors and supporters! Thank you for the great work!”
Indeed, we want to extend a massive THANK YOU to all the volunteers who dedicate their time and energy to caring for our parks and trails.
Real estate mogul Mohammed Hadid is seeking to erect an enormous development in Franklin Canyon, specifically over the Hastain Trail in the park’s southeast section. Our Task Force Chair, Eric Edmunds, has been in correspondence with Nithya Raman, Los Angeles City Councilmember of the 4th District, over this incursion. Visit her official website to read the statement recently published by her office.
The Wall Street Journal published an informative piece on watching for and preventing heatstroke, vital knowledge as we enter an incredibly hot summer, and as the planetary oven dial will continue ratcheting up higher temperatures:
Noteworthy in this article is the focus on humidity, which has been growing in our normally dry Southern Californian midst and which so many of us are not accustomed to. According to the article, even with “unlimited drinking water, full shade and perfect health … when the wet-bulb temperature exceeds 95 degrees Fahrenheit, the body loses its ability to sufficiently cool itself with sweat.”
The article goes on to offer in-the-moment advice on combating heatstroke:
“Someone feeling the effects of heat exhaustion should seek shade or air conditioning, drink cool water, undress and, if needed, take a cool shower. If someone is confused, agitated or having seizures, they should be sprayed or sponged with cool water and fanned until medical help arrives. Over-the-counter drugs meant to control fever, such as aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen, won’t help.”
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s highest acquisition priority, Triangle Ranch, is now closer than ever to becoming public parkland. With California budgeting $8 million toward the purchase, the area will, according to a recent social media post by the MRCA, “provide habitat connection between the Liberty Canyon wildlife corridor (including the proposed 101 Freeway wildlife bridge) and the Ladyface Mountain core habitat areas. The property contains a number of rare, threatened and endangered species.”
In addition, Cal Matters published an edifying article this month that breaks down not only the efforts toward the crossing, but the hard statistics — involving financial loss to drivers and taxpayers, animal death, and other numbers — that highlight the urgent necessity of this project. For perspective, in 2018 alone the cost of vehicle-wildlife collisions to society was $232 million. Over the last four years, it’s estimated at over $1 billion.
As part of Sierra Club National’s sweeping 30×30 Campaign (which arose from A Global Deal For Nature), the Sierra Club of California recently called on every task force to submit their top conservation priorities. We’ve partnered with the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority in highlighting the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing. Wendy-Sue Rosen, our representative to the Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee, responded with this detailed report.
