Most of Tonner Canyon was supposed to be purchased by The Wildlands Conservancy as open space, with the remaining acerage being retained by the Boy Scouts, who have been very poor managers of the land as they have allowed over-grazing by non-native cattle and a bulldozing training school on their reserve! As an Eagle Scout and Assistant Scoutmaster, I am disgusted by their total lack of concern for our natural resources. I guess that when they taught us to protect our environment they weren't including themselves. The deal fell through when the scouts put too many restrictions and provisions on the purchase. Then the Los Angeles area Council sold the property to the City of Industry for 1.5 million less than WCCA (a conservation group) offered them! Industry wants to put a series of reservoirs and a major highway. This had led to two lawsuits in which WCCA, the Sierra Club and several other conservation groups are contending that the purchase by Industry was illegel since they used redevelopment funds for the purchase and never completed an EIR as required by law. Redevelopment funds can't be used to purchase open space. Unfortunately, the judge rendered a verdict recently in Industry's favor, so now an appeal is the only way to try to legally block this very bad deal. It is now up to the people, especially the residents of Brea, Diamond Bar, and Chino Hills to band together and say they don't want reservoirs or highways or anything else in Tonner Canyon! I cannot stress enough how vital this land is to the whole wildlife corridor. I pray that this citizen's effort is sucessful and Tonner Canyon is preserved both as a vital wildlife corridor and as home to four of the five most endangered plant ecosystems in Southern California! I have hiked and camped in Tonner Canyon for many years and can attest as a scientist to the immense ecological value of this property and how vital is it to the corridor. Please take a moment to sign my petition to save this vital habitat from senseless destruction. Click here or on the link at the top of this page and thank you! For more info on the situation you can also click on the link to the Save Tonner Canyon Page. For even more info check out the Hills For Everyone site as well. Both of these links are located at the bottom of this page.
One area which had been threatened but will now be forever preserved in its natural state is Turnbull Canyon in the Whittier Hills. Turnbull Canyon was owned by the Rose Hills Foundation, and Whittier, along with the Native Habitat Preservation Authority, sucessfully negotiated to purchase this vital area, one of my favorite canyons! The Catholic Church was trying to buy the land for a cemetary but public outcry against that plan led to the Church withdrawing the offer. The deal with Whittier to preserve the land as open space was completed this October (2002)! It is really great to be able to hike this superb natural area legally.
The Rowland Heights property is owned by Shell Oil company which is actively assessing the possibilities of developing the area by adding over 2,000 homes there! Hopefully this region of beautiful Southern California Black Walnut trees can be purchased before it is damaged to put up yet more houses in an already overcrowded county. Feel free to contact Shell and tell them that you prefer to keep the Puente Hills in their natural state. I will try to keep this page updated as I learn new information.
It is vital to preserve the hills intact since an open "corridor" is needed to allow species to move from area to area in their search for food and mates. Any area fragmented by development is cut off from other open space areas and the animals and plants are more likely to inbreed and become weaker due to a lack of new genetic material, leaving them more susceptable to environmental changes that healthier individuals would overcome. There are currently enough large areas and connecting corridors to allow for incredible animal and plant diversity, since the Whittier Hills are still connected to the Santa Ana Mountains by this rangewide natural corridor! Coal Canyon, the last remaining link of the Santa Ana Mountains to the Chino/Puente Hills, was successfully purchased as permanent open space and will be added to Chino Hills State Park! The Puente Hills contain four endangered plant ecosystems and their preservation is vital. The two websites listed below are very informative and give the reader an opportunity to leave comments and questions regarding the ongoing efforts to keep the Puente Hills wild and natural. Together we can help to make this dream a reality!
www.repository.ws/dams/
www.hillsforeveryone.org
www.geocities.com/whittierhills