According to Zach Behrens at LAist.com via the Huffington Post, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy's private foundation (the MRCA) is roughly $150,000 short of being able to purchase 500 acres of open space at Laurel Canyon and Mulholland.It cannot be overstated how important this wildlife corridor is to the health and welfare of the entire ecosystem in the greater Griffith Park area. August 17th is the deadline and the MRCA is hoping poverty-stricken Los Angeles City will come up with the funds. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking! Hey City Council - how about sending about 1/2 of one percent of that $30 million loan you're giving Cirque du Soleil so we can save our entire local wilderness ecosystem from collapse! What do you say?
In the meantime, open your wallets and send the MRCA some bank if you can.
The sad details, from LAist:
Paul Edelman, the Chief Ecologist for both the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state agency, and the Authority, has made a case for Los Angeles to put money behind saving this land on the Huffington Post:
As part of a contiguous 500-acre block of urban wilderness, this property is essential for wildlife to cross Laurel Canyon Boulevard to reach Nichols and Runyon Canyons and eventually the 5,000-acre Griffith Park. Scenic Mulholland Drive and the wildlife populations east of Laurel Canyon will never be the same if this land is further developed.
Please urge the community at large to spread the importance of this land acquisition effort and encourage those able to make donations to do so, in order to keep this campaign alive. As incentive, the largest donor will receive permanent park naming and signage rights (make that, tasteful signage rights) for this highly-trafficked area. All donations are fully tax-deductible.
The coming weeks will dictate whether the greater Los Angeles community will forever regret not raising the money necessary to keep the heart of the mountain range breathing, or if it will, as the most popular signs in canyon read, allow it to live in "peace."
Edelman emphasizes the traffic hell to be during construction, if that happens. Currently, the intersection is two points south of Hell.
