By Jami Lambert
Staff Writer
The largest non-governmental landowner in the Santa Monica Mountains just got a bit bigger.
The Mountains Restoration Trust recently purchased a 417-acre tract of land in Tuna Canyon. This land, located between Malibu Canyon and Topanga Canyon, is valued at nearly $13 million.
It will connect 1,659 acres that were purchased last year by the state to extend Topanga State Park to the ocean and 1,256 acres acquired by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in December.
“It’s a perfect example of a Southern California canyon in its pristine state,” said Garrie Mar of the Mountains Restoration Trust.
The Mountains Restoration Trust is a nonprofit organization that was established in 1981 by the California State Coastal Commission and the California State Coastal Conservancy, in accordance with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Act of 1979.
Over the past 21 years, the trust has been responsible for the acquisition and preservation of more than 4000 acres and currently holds the titles to more than 2000 acres in the Los Angeles county area.
With the newly connected land area, the trust plans to work with the state and the conservancy to protect wildlife habitats and explore recreational uses for the land.
They plan to keep the land as open space, with the exception of a camp for students from low-income neighborhoods to experience the wilderness.
According to Mountains Resto-ration Trust President Steve Harris, the land was acquired from John Paul DeJoria, founder of Paul Mitchell Hair Care Products.
DeJoria sold a portion of the land for $1.4 million, less than 10 percent of its full value, and donated the rest to the Mountains Restoration Trust.
The trust has already received approval for a grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy to cover the cost of the purchase.
“It’s wonderful that Mr. DeJoria donated so much value and truly wanted to preserve this property,” Harris said.
Since the purchase of the land in late December, it has been named the DeJoria Family Tuna Canyon Preserve as a part of the Topanga Canyon State Park.
The terms of sale stated that the land must remain undeveloped and open except for natural hiking trails and essential maintenance buildings, said realestate agent Matthew Rodman, who brokered the deal.
February 07, 2002