Wildlife Preserves

An unprecedented experiment in wildlife conservation began Wednesday in an Orange County meadow as a major land developer and high-level government officials signed a plan that some hope will be a national model for protecting both economic interests and rare plants and animals. Amid applause, the officials signed an agreement that creates a 37,000-acre wildlife preserve in the county's central and coastal areas.

Bird watchers angered by the destruction of 43 acres of a former wildlife preserve at Sepulveda Basin got a promise from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday that it wouldn't remove any more vegetation until at least mid-September. Tomas Beauchamp, a corps spokesman, told the Los Angeles City Council that further work on the so-called South Reserve, south of Burbank Boulevard and north to the base of the dam, is on hold, in part because nesting birds have been discovered in the habitat.

The governing board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy approved the acquisition of 326 acres in the hills above Woodland Hills, south of Ventura Boulevard, at its meeting Monday night. The money to purchase the property from Avatar, a Florida-based development company, will come from Proposition 12 funds. The statewide measure, approved by voters in March, is the largest parks bond in U.S. history, providing $2.

SACRAMENTO - Over the last decade, millions of public dollars intended for wildlife preservation areas were spent off the books on state office needs, equipment and building construction, among other items, officials said Thursday. Last year alone, at least $1.7 million was diverted from California's Wildlife Restoration Fund to pay for office operations, routine bills and gift cards for official use, according to Mike Taugher, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The menacing mimicry of animal cries echoes through tangled rain forest from a band of diminutive human predators. Suddenly, frantic squeals ring out as a scrawny, wide-eyed antelope gets tangled in a net trap. A woman clobbers it with a stick. Two other antelopes meet the same fate this morning, a modest take compared with those of yesteryear. As they have done for more generations than anyone can remember, the Pygmies of the BaAka tribe are again on the hunt.

One wonders if A. Richard Apple (letter May 4) has a conscience. He writes that a wildlife preserve should not have been the choice for 60 acres, but rather a golf course. I certainly hope his selfish thinking is not representative of the residents in the Valley. He must be the one bad apple that spoils the barrel. Wildlife has had habitat taken away to an unconscionable degree. The two major reasons for species extinction are habitat loss and hunting. We have an obligation to the animals we share this earth with to preserve their land.

SANTA ROSA, CALIF. Valentine's Sex Tour When, where: Feb. 13, Safari West Wildlife Preserve Highlights: This annual event features a safari tour during which you and your Valentine learn about the mating habits of the wild animals you'll see, including cheetahs, giraffes and rhinos. Also included: a chocolate reception, dinner and dancing. Cost : $131 per person; reservations required. Overnight packages are also available. Info: (707) 566-3667, www.safariwest.

Cinnamon teals, sandpipers and Savannah sparrows were already bathing and swimming in the new wildlife preserve at Sepulveda Basin Friday morning when Mayor Tom Bradley led a host of officials in praising one of the state's first bird sanctuaries set in a populated area. The $1-million preserve, located in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area in Van Nuys, covers 60 acres including an 11-acre man-made lake that is expected to attract water birds flying south for the winter.

A $4-million deal to create an 82-acre state wildlife reserve in Laguna Canyon cleared all obstacles Tuesday when the Irvine Co. and other groups involved in the deal agreed to remove land-use restrictions that the state found unacceptable. The state threatened in October to scuttle its plan to purchase the land from the city of Laguna Beach and create a sanctuary for rare species.

SACRAMENTO - Over the last decade, millions of public dollars intended for wildlife preservation areas were spent off the books on state office needs, equipment and building construction, among other items, officials said Thursday. Last year alone, at least $1.7 million was diverted from California's Wildlife Restoration Fund to pay for office operations, routine bills and gift cards for official use, according to Mike Taugher, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A federal appeals court on Thursday overturned the littering conviction of an Arizona activist who left gallon-size bottles of water for illegal immigrants crossing into the United States through a desert wildlife preserve. Daniel Millis of NoMoreDeaths.org had been convicted of violating a statute prohibiting the dumping of garbage in an area designated as a refuge for endangered species. In a 2-1 ruling, judges of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said water didn't meet the definition of waste.

SANTA ROSA, CALIF. Valentine's Sex Tour When, where: Feb. 13, Safari West Wildlife Preserve Highlights: This annual event features a safari tour during which you and your Valentine learn about the mating habits of the wild animals you'll see, including cheetahs, giraffes and rhinos. Also included: a chocolate reception, dinner and dancing. Cost : $131 per person; reservations required. Overnight packages are also available. Info: (707) 566-3667, www.safariwest.

Los Angeles officials said the city may abandon plans to build a highly controversial "green" power transmission line through unspoiled desert and wildlife preserves on a route east of the San Bernardino Mountains, focusing instead on alternative pathways mostly along an interstate highway where high-voltage lines already exist. The Department of Water and Power's proposed 85-mile-long Green Path North transmission line has faced fierce opposition from more than a dozen community and environmental groups, creating a political chink in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's efforts to cast himself as the leader of the "cleanest, greenest big city in America."

Dig! Pull! Harder, harder! Go! Go!," chided leader Karen Jettmar. She pushed us, five in each rubber boat, to reach down and grab a last thrust of energy that would drive the two bulky rafts ashore on Icy Reef, an exposed, narrow gravel bar. We were trying to cross the Kongakut River delta against the biting sting of a sleet-laced westerly that had blown in off the Beaufort Sea. On its windward flank, the Beaufort roared with short, steep waves and flying spindrift.

Highlighting the environmental pitfalls of harnessing "green" energy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's push to import nonpolluting power to Los Angeles could require building power lines and transmission towers through a national forest, two desert wildlife preserves and a rustic hamlet used in countless westerns.

Preservationists won a major victory Tuesday in their 20-year effort to create a wetlands preserve at Ormond Beach when Metropolitan Water District officials voted to begin negotiating the sale of a key parcel to the state Coastal Conservancy. The shoreline property, a 309-acre tract in south Oxnard jointly owned by the city and the MWD, has been lauded by environmentalists as the linchpin to future restoration of Ventura County's largest remaining tract of undeveloped coastline.

The Los Angeles City Council moved Wednesday toward preserving the Chatsworth Reservoir for wildlife, directing the Department of Water and Power, which owns the property, to lease it to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. "This is a first step," said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the conservancy. Edmiston said the proposed 10-year lease agreement would ensure that the 1,100-acre tract in the northwest San Fernando Valley is managed for wildlife protection and public use.

With the help of 3,200 donors in 35 states, the Foothills Land Conservancy fulfilled its dream and its promise to keep 4,600 acres of land in public hands and undeveloped. The conservancy raised almost $1.4 million over the last 18 months to buy the tract on Chilhowee Mountain, just off the northwestern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The conservancy signed over 4,200 acres to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the remaining 392 acres to the U.S.

The governing board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy approved the acquisition of 326 acres in the hills above Woodland Hills, south of Ventura Boulevard, at its meeting Monday night. The money to purchase the property from Avatar, a Florida-based development company, will come from Proposition 12 funds. The statewide measure, approved by voters in March, is the largest parks bond in U.S. history, providing $2.

The menacing mimicry of animal cries echoes through tangled rain forest from a band of diminutive human predators. Suddenly, frantic squeals ring out as a scrawny, wide-eyed antelope gets tangled in a net trap. A woman clobbers it with a stick. Two other antelopes meet the same fate this morning, a modest take compared with those of yesteryear. As they have done for more generations than anyone can remember, the Pygmies of the BaAka tribe are again on the hunt.