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January
2, 2003
Keeping
Chaney Trail in the clear
By Becky Oskin
Staff Writer
ALTADENA -- The New Year brings
another victory for the Altadena Foothills Conservancy, which
has raised enough money to purchase a 1.5-acre property along
Chaney Trail.
Andrea Wilson had planned to build a
house on the site, next to the popular Angeles Crest Trail.
Instead, she changed her mind and offered the parcel to the
conservancy.
"The house would have destroyed
the view and harmed the Altadena Crest Trail for the thousands
of people who drive, walk and ride horses and bikes up Chaney
Trail and into the Angeles National Forest,' said Nancy
Steele, conservancy president.
The group raised $30,000 this fall
through donations, primarily from individual Altadena
residents, said Rob Staehle, a conservancy volunteer.
"We had equestrians, mountain
bikers, hikers and dog walkers,' he said.
Another $11,500 from the
conservancy's general fund helped bring the total close to the
$50,000 purchase price.
"We will be working hard in 2003
to raise the balance of the funds, about $20,000, to retire
the debt and replenish the conservancy's general fund,'
Staehle said.
Another $25,000 is needed to
establish an endowment to care for the newly purchased land,
called the Andrea Wilson triangle, and the conservancy still
hopes to raise $300,000 next year to fund other projects and
purchases.
The group released its first
conservation plan for the Altadena foothills in November. The
conservancy estimate more than 400 acres of foothill land,
some within the Angeles National Forest boundaries, are in
private hands.
Since its formation in 1999, the
conservancy has arranged the purchase and preservation of 15
acres along Chaney Trail by the Trust for Public Land. It also
coordinated with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in
June to purchase 13 acres in Lower Millard Canyon, but was
outbid at an auction by a private buyer.
The nonprofit group is run by
volunteers and has a policy of only working with willing
owners who want to see their properties preserved through
donation or purchase, Steele said.
-- Becky Oskin can be reached at
(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4451, or by e-mail at becky.oskin@sgvn.com.
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