New Parcel of Land Added to the South Coast Wilderness

The May newsletter from the Laguna Canyon Foundation indicated that the Foundation was successful in getting the Laguna Beach City Council, in a 5 - 0 decision, to preserve a 3.7 acre parcel of land that is the primary wildlife corridor for animals between the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and the Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park. The land will be set aside for preservation and restoration. It will eventually provide trail access to hikers. The following is an excerpt from the Laguna Canyon Foundation May Newsletter: 

I am happy to report that through the efforts of our President, Derek Ostensen, the City of Laguna Beach accepted our proposal to preserve a 3.7-acre city parcel as open space. This unique property is located in the  Big Bend area of Laguna Canyon and serves as the primary wildlife corridor between the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park. Everything from tennis courts to skate parks and soccer fields have been proposed for this parcel; but, due to traffic constraints, all proposals have been denied by the city. Derek's proposal to the council was perfect. In fact, we proposed two options: 1) preserve the entire parcel and 2) at the request of city staff that would preserved approximately 60% of the parcel. Both Derek and I were unsure of how the council would vote, and we were we pleased when the council voted 5-0 to preserve the entire parcel as open space. The task now is to restore this parcel to native habitat aided by a $100,000 grant the Laguna Canyon Foundation received from the Orange County Transit Authority.