Tuna Canyon

Pepperdine University on Friday dedicated as open space a 72.7-acre property known as Little Las Flores Canyon, about eight miles from campus. The state Department of Fish and Game and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy will hold title to the land. In 2000, the university, located on a small portion of an overall 830 acres in the Malibu area, pledged to work with government agencies to set the property apart for preservation. The land is an integral part of the watershed and ecosystem of the adjoining Tuna Canyon "significant ecological area."

Thousands of Los Angeles homeowners with septic tanks could be forced to connect to the city's sewer line or repair or replace their systems under a newly proposed ordinance. Some San Fernando Valley residents think the idea stinks. The proposal by the Department of Public Works would require that owners of the city's 11,643 septic tanks buy annual permits, replace malfunctioning tanks or connect to the sewers. The cost of complying with the ordinance could run into the thousands of dollars, depending on where the septic system is located.

John Paul Jones de Joria must be kidding about creating the world's first environmentally friendly golf course in underdeveloped upper Tuna Canyon, which is noted for its important riparian habitat. How can the creation of a golf course, which would destroy the natural environment being built on, be environmentally friendly? How many golf courses do we need anyway? Why not leave Tuna Canyon in its natural state and, instead, encourage environmental friendliness on existing golf courses?

Break out the birthday cake and candle--La Tuna Canyon is turning one this month. Residents of the rural enclave have long wanted to break away from the more densely populated and industrial Sun Valley, saying they had always referred to their home as La Tuna Canyon and just wanted to make it official. So after petitions were signed by a majority of residents, Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs ordered the name change.

Rising above the southeast end of the San Fernando Valley, the Verdugo Mountains are a surprisingly rugged, usually overlooked place to hike. One reason the mountains are an overlooked destination is the scarcity of hiking trails. Just-completed La Tuna Canyon Trail is the first foot trail built in modern times to explore these mountains. The trail was built by Los Angeles Conservation Corps under the leadership of Ron Webster. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state conservation agency, provided funds for the project.

Five months after landslides forced the closure of Tuna Canyon Road, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works reopened one lane of the heavily damaged mountain road Tuesday, offering Topanga residents an escape route in case of fire. "I'm thrilled," said Robin Maxwell, a resident and co-chair of the Tuna Unified Neighborhood Assn. "I wanted a fire exit. . . . This solution more than answers the problems I saw."

One month after agreeing in principle to close a dangerous stretch of La Tuna Canyon Road to heavy trucks, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted the ban into law. The ordinance, approved unanimously, is expected to be signed by Mayor Richard Riordan within a week and will go into effect 30 days later, officials said. It will bar trucks weighing in excess of 6,000 pounds from traveling a section of La Tuna Canyon Road stretching from the Foothill Freeway to Sunland Boulevard.

After paying nearly $3 million to settle four lawsuits, the Los Angeles City Council will decide today whether to ban heavy trucks from a dangerous stretch of La Tuna Canyon Road. The council will vote on a motion by Councilman Joel Wachs that calls for an ordinance barring trucks in excess of 6,000 pounds from a section of the road stretching from the Foothill Freeway in the east to Sunland Boulevard in the west.

A fire burned about 10 acres of brush in La Tuna Canyon near Sun Valley on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. The fire, which threatened no houses, was reported in the 9700 block of West La Tuna Canyon Road at 10:45 a.m. and was controlled by firefighters on the ground and in water-dropping helicopters in about 1 1/2 hours, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said. The cause of the fire was under investigation, Wells said.

Residents of La Tuna Canyon have started a petition drive in recent weeks to rename their community Rancho La Tuna Canyon, divorcing themselves from Sun Valley. "We've always referred to our area as La Tuna Canyon," said Vickie Chemleski, a resident who has been a leader in the drive for the name change. "Now we'd like to make it official." The new community would run along La Tuna Canyon from Sunland Boulevard to the Foothill Freeway at Tujunga and the Los Angeles border with Glendale.