Wildlife Habitat

The controversy over a proposed extension of California 126 that would displace homes in the Santa Clarita Valley flared anew Monday when the area's chamber endorsed the plan, saying "the overall benefits . . . must take priority over neighborhood concerns." Chamber of Commerce President Marlee Lauffer said she wrote the Sept.

Faced with strong opposition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scaled back a proposal to haul tons of contaminated silt and sand from Marina del Rey to the Port of Los Angeles to use as fill for a new marine wildlife habitat. In a concession aimed at winning approval for the controversial project, the Corps said it will seek permission to immediately remove only 130,000 cubic yards of the material, containing lead and dozens of other harmful substances, instead of the 530,000 cubic yards it had proposed.

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council unanimously approved a controversial ocean bluff golf course and residential development Tuesday, but opponents vowed to appeal the decision in a bid to derail the project. "Absolutely, we will appeal this to the (California) Coastal Commission because (the council) totally disregarded all of the legal problems with the project," said Andrew H.

Pauline and Joe Turner's home overlooks Young's Cove, an inlet on Cobscook Bay, a stunning stretch of coast where the tides flow up to 24 feet, the highest in the United States outside Alaska. Their 30 acres of land, where the fragrance of balsam fir and spruce mixes with the smell of the sea, is part of a coastal forest near the Canadian border that is a magnet for wildlife. Bald eagles nest along Cobscook Bay in higher numbers than anywhere else in the Northeast.

Two state senators on Thursday called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to explain its decision to plow under 43 acres of lush wildlife habitat at the Sepulveda Basin without prior notice or coordination with community leaders and environmentalists. Sens. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) asked for details about what led to the agency's declaration in August that its "vegetation management plan" for the area did not require an environmental impact report because it would not significantly disturb wildlife and habitat.

A proposal to replace 835 oak, sycamore and walnut trees with 199,000 new interment spaces at a prominent Hollywood Hills cemetery near Griffith Park is at the heart of a controversy over the future of what little remains of the Los Angeles area's undeveloped wildlife habitat. Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries wants to develop 120 acres of its grounds because its existing expanse of carefully manicured lawns has nearly run out of room for interments in grassy havens with names like "Ascending Dawn" and "Vale of Hope.

The Annenberg Foundation plans to build a $50-million interpretive center in the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve under an agreement to be signed Monday with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Officials aim to make the center a place for people to "come to learn how nature works and how each of them is a part of it," said Charlton H. "Chuck" Bonham, Fish and Wildlife director. The announcement marked rare movement in the state's efforts to restore one of Southern California's few remaining wetlands and open it to the public.

The state Coastal Conservancy, its budget enriched by voter-approved bonds, doled out $11 million to expand parkland and preserve wildlife habitat along California's coastline, Gov. Gray Davis announced Friday. "This funding will support the purchase of more than 1,000 acres of wildlife habitat and parklands, reduce water pollution and improve parks," the governor said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to preserve thousands of acres of wildlife habitat by purchasing the development rights to land near the Kern National Wildlife Refuge. The plan would give property owners money for improvements while allowing them to keep title and control of the land. The owners would give up the right to develop the land for housing, commercial uses or more intensive agriculture.