Tejon Development and Conservation

The Los Angeles Times is reporting today that a deal has been reached between developers and environmental groups that will allow the building of 26,000 new homes on pristine land owned by the Tejon Ranch Co. in exchange for the conservation of 178,000 remaining acres. It will also allow the public purchase of an additional 49,000 acres for a public park.

The Tejon Ranch is 270,000 acres of land 60 miles north of Los Angeles that is spread over Los Angeles and Kern counties, and which covers four distinct ecosystems: Mojave Desert grasslands, San Joaquin Valley oak woodlands, Tehachapi pine forests and coastal mountain ranges. It is also the habitat for the highly endangered and federally protected California condor. Part of the agreement called for the new homes to be built away from the ridgelines where the condors forage. Developers had previously sought a waiver from the government to be relieved of legal responsibility if land development resulted in a condor's death.

Other wildlife inhabiting the ranch land include bobcats, deer, coyotes, golden eagles, elk and wild turkey. A spokesman for the Sierra Club has declared it "the ecological equivalent of the Louisiana Purchase" for Southern California.

The houses will be built in the southern portion of the ranch, while an industrial complex has already gotten underway in the western-most corner, just south of where Interstate 5 forks off to the beginning of Highway 99. In addition to the objections from environmental groups concerned about wildlife, other complaints about the development were that Southern California sprawl was creeping into Central California.

Given the seemingly inexhaustible demand for new houses in Southern California, it was inevitable that one of the last great pieces of undeveloped land in the state would be carved up for housing. This may be the best deal possible to avoid losing all the land to cities and shopping malls. But with the housing bubble burst, and gas only getting more prohibitive in cost, who is going to commute 60 miles one way to L.A?