Earth Equity News

California Pact with Tejon Ranch Co. Splits Environmentalists. By Louis Sahagun, LATimes, July 7, 2008. "Environmentalists who brokered a landmark agreement with a developer to set aside 240,000 acres of California wilderness are facing the ire of colleagues within the conservation community who contend that they, as one detractor put it, 'sold out to the forces of destruction.' The pact's potential effect on the California condor has prompted the harshest criticism, and has brought personal attacks as well. Under the accord unveiled in May after two years of confidential negotiations, Tejon Ranch Co. will preserve 90% of its holdings in the Tehachapi Mountains, about 60 miles north of Los Angeles. In exchange, a coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Audubon California and Natural Resources Defense Council, will not challenge massive development projects on the remaining 10% of the Tejon property. Coalition leaders acknowledged that the proposed Tejon Mountain Village's luxury homes, spas and boutique hotels would consume about 8% of the condor habitat on the ranch. But they also said the agreement aims to protect a much larger region -- eight times the size of San Francisco -- that is still very much as 19th century frontiersman Kit Carson experienced it... the Center for Biological Diversity, which is considering suing over the Tejon projects... Disputes among environmentalists are nothing new. But some worry that the emotionally charged internecine warfare could undermine efforts to protect the sweeping Tejon Ranch landscape, which embraces four ecosystems and supports wildlife ranging from Tehachapi salamanders to golden eagles."