After the devastating coastal sweep of the 2025 Palisades fire, discussion now shifts around just what shape the area of PCH and Topanga Canyon Blvd. where Lower Topanga State Park is located will take in the coming future.
Just months before the fire in September 2024, a Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Topanga Lagoon Restoration project located in the Lower Topanga State Park was approved. It included the restoration of the historic Topanga Ranch Motel, and the removal of all the nearby businesses leasing land from the state park (such as Rosenthal Winery and the Reel Inn) for Habitat Restoration. It would have restored roughly 23.7 acres of surrounding riparian and transitional upland habitats. In short: the Topanga wilderness would regain that much more of a foothold.
Unfortunately, after the fire, Governor Newsom signed an executive order extending the business’s commercial leases for another thirty (30) years. Those leases were set to expire soon. In addition, all the commercial buildings burned down in the Palisades Fire. He is also waiving requirements from the Coastal Commission such as an Environmental Impact Report. Hundreds of bird species inhabit or migrate through this stretch of the Santa Monica Mountains.
In May one of our volunteers, Kelli Frye, attended a Topanga Lagoon Restoration meeting to update the public on the post fire changes. Kelli asked a member of the Design Workshop, a design firm that was hired to work on the development, about the project’s potential effect on the lagoon’s birds. The Design Group member said, “You know birds, they will find somewhere else to go”. The birds don’t have a lot of options with 95 percent of the wetlands developed in California.
During the June meeting of the Task Force, we passed a motion to intervene in opposition to the 30-year renewal of the commercial leases.
If you’d like to make your own voice heard, let California State Parks know your opposition to the 30-year renewal of the commercial leases in Topanga State Park by commenting here: https://www.myinput.com/topanga-will-rogers