Chapter Two – Existing Conditions and Issues

Topanga Creek

10 Topanga State Park

PARK SUMMARY EXISTING FACILITIES The following section summarizes Trippet Ranch existing land uses, facilities, and Existing facilities at Trippet Ranch significant resources of Topanga State include the main residence, stable/ Park. The information was adapted barn, machine shed, and skeet lodge. from resource inventories (Appendix G – under separate cover) conducted as • Ranger and maintenance facilities - part of the General Plan update housed in the historic stable/barn process. These resource inventories and machine shed supplement the baseline data provided • A nature center - housed in the by the 1977 Resource Management historic skeet lodge (will reopen Plans, General Development Plans after renovation) (GDP), and Environmental Impact • Park staff residence – in the historic Reports for Topanga, Malibu Creek, main ranch residence (dubbed the and Point Mugu State Parks. These Superintendent’s House) data provided a baseline for develop- • ing: Park entrance station, restroom, picnic area, and parking • management zones and planning Maintenance Yard and Residential matrix; Area adjacent to Trippet Ranch • the goals and guidelines found in • Chapter 3 (the Plan) and Storage yard • • The Preferred Plan. Two staff residences (one stand- alone and one modular) EXISTING LAND USE Los Leones Topanga State Park currently offers • Amphitheater, ramadas, picnic limited camping opportunities; a tables, restroom, modular unit, and modest, but soon to be renovated parking (another restroom is nature center at the Trippet Ranch scheduled to be constructed in skeet lodge; and an extensive trail 2012) system that serves multiple regional and park-wide circulations needs. The Musch Camp Park’s steep topography and vast • Developed walk-in, bike-in (via expanse of canyons and ridgelines play paved service road from Hillside host to a wide range of users, from Drive), or horseback ride-in recreational hikers, to bicyclists, to equestrians. Other users include campground with restroom and scientists, scholars, and students such corrals as geologists, entomologists, natural- Lower Topanga Canyon Area ists, biologists, historians, and archae- ologists. • Topanga Motel o Approximately 27 structures; all currently vacant except for one staff residence • Two restaurants with parking

Existing Conditions and Issues 11 • A retail business with parking selling animal feed, beach-going The Overlook at the end of the items, and gifts ridge above Parker Mesa has • A furniture business with parking been named “Vista Marquez” in • A vacant business structure honor of Francisco Marquez, adjacent to the creek – planned for who built the first adobe an interim concession in 2011 structure on Rancho Boca de • Parking, picnic tables, and beach Santa Monica. This Rancho access (under the highway) was originally established in Park staff residences 1827 and granted to Marquez • One staff housed in one of the and his partner, Ysidro Reyes in Topanga Motel units 1838. It included the southern • One staff housed in one of the portion of what is today structures at Trippet Ranch Topanga State Park. • One stand-alone structure in the Residential Area near Trippet Roads Ranch Access into the Park is from adjacent • One modular unit in the Residential or bisecting roads such as Topanga Area near Trippet Ranch Canyon Boulevard, Pacific Coast • One stand-alone structure near Highway, Reseda Boulevard, Los Musch Camp Liones Drive, Entrada Road, and Sunset Boulevard, with internal Trail System circulation, mainly for operation and The Park contains an extensive trail maintenance, handled by unpaved dirt system including an interpretive loop service and fire roads. Along these fire trail at Trippet Ranch. roads are strategically located • emergency landing zones for fire The Backbone Trail runs through protection and management that are the middle of the Park and the Rim used by both the County and City of of the Valley Trail passes through Los Angeles fire departments. One of the northern part of the Park along the major emergency landing zones is Dirt Mulholland near Trippet Ranch. • The Coastal Slope Trail is proposed to run through the southern part of A traffic study prepared as part of this the Park planning process produced data used to • evaluate proposed planning decisions Trail nodes, including a developed as well as for the Environmental node at Hub Junction, which is Analysis. planned for a new vault toilet in 2012 Parking • Overlooks and viewpoints are present throughout the trail system Three parking areas currently exist within the Park at Trippet Ranch, Los Leones, and the Lower Topanga Canyon area. Street access to the

12 Topanga State Park

Park’s Trippet Ranch entrance is from contact the Southern Communication Entrada Road via Topanga Canyon Center (SURCOM), which is CSP’s Boulevard in the west central part of law enforcement and emergency the Park. Los Liones Drive, off of telecommunication service. SURCOM West Sunset Boulevard and Temescal will then contact Topanga State Park Canyon Road, provides access to the rangers. For major crimes, the County Los Leones entrance. The Lower and/or City of Los Angeles law Topanga Canyon area is accessed via enforcement agencies will be called Pacific Coast Highway. upon depending where the crime falls Off-site parking is available along city within the Park (the majority of the and county streets and at adjacent and Park falls within the City limit of Los nearby parks and open space areas, Angeles). some of which charge parking fees. In the recent past, criminal activities Utilities have been infrequent in the Park, mainly involving minor infractions and The majority of the Park’s water vandalism. supply is via connection to local water district supply lines, while most of the Firefighting within the Park is a multi- wastewater treatment within the Park agency effort due to the high fire is handled via septic and leach field severity designation for most of the systems. For example, facilities at region. First responders for the Park Trippet Ranch and the Lower Topanga are: County Fire Station #69 in the Canyon area are connected to a local town of Topanga and City Fire Station water line and sewage is treated via #23, located in Pacific Palisades near septic/leach systems, while the limited Los Leones. CSP also has agreements facilities at Los Leones are tied into with a few agencies such as the municipal water and sewer systems. Mountains Recreation and Conserva- tion Authority (MCRA), for providing The closest municipal sewer line to the joint-use of fire crews for fire Lower Topanga Canyon area is several protection. miles north along Pacific Coast Highway, near Coastline Drive. Concessions Utility easements, including road, Four existing businesses (see Existing sewer, and water easements run Facilities section, Lower Topanga throughout the Park, with many such Canyon area on page 11) were present easements located near the Mulholland prior to the acquisition of the Lower Corridor, and the Lower Topanga Topanga Canyon area. All four have Canyon and Rustic Canyon areas. been in continuous operations as part of the Interim Management Plan OPERATIONS (IMP). These businesses are operating on either short term leases or month- Public Safety to-month rental arrangements. Per CSP The Park primarily relies on CSP policies and regulations, all such rangers for visitor safety. When a 911 businesses within a park unit shall be call is received by local law “concessions” as defined in California enforcement or fire departments, they Resource Code sections 5080.02 - 5080.29, and any concessions

Existing Conditions and Issues 13 identified to remain need to be former Nike missile site, is as long as consistent with the Park’s vision as the numerous miles of highways that denoted within the General Plan. stretch adjacent to the Park, including Filming Pacific Coast Highway, Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard Although filming is not a major and the Ventura Freeway. A sampling revenue generating component, of adjacent land owners includes the parking and other fees are charged to National Park Service, Santa Monica recover such expenses as staff review Mountains Conservancy, County of time and monitoring of such events. Los Angeles (e.g., the Beaches and Filming is allowed in the Park as long Harbors and Sanitation Divisions), as the activities comply with CSP’s City of Los Angeles, U.S. Army Corps filming polices as denoted in “The of Engineers, and Las Virgenes Guidelines for Filming in California Municipal Water District (Figure 2). State Parks” (1998). Several movies and television shows have used the NATURAL RESOURCES Park as a minor filming location. The Environmental Setting most well-known among these was the television series The X-Files, which The Park is located in the California filmed parts of an episode in the Lower Floristic Province, Southwest Region, Topanga Canyon area. Western Transverse Ranges Subregion. Elevations within the Park range from ADJACENT LAND USE sea level to 2,614 feet (Figure 3). As part of the 150,000-acre Santa The climate is considered Mediter- Monica Mountains National Recrea- ranean and fluctuates with the seasons tion Area (SMMNRA), Topanga State with hot dry summers and mild wet Park has a wide variety of open space winters. Average annual precipitation within a 20-mile radius of its is approximately 16 inches, which boundaries, including ten other CSP- primarily falls as rain in the winter. operated units: Temperatures range from highs of 68o o o o • Leo Carrillo State Park to 96 F and lows from 38 to 58 F. • Los Angeles State Historic Park The frost-free period is from 300 to • Los Encinos State Historic Park 350 days. • Malibu Creek State Park On average, 86% of the rainfall occurs • Malibu Lagoon State Beach between November and March, with • Point Mugu State Park the majority (47%), concentrated in • Río de Los Ángeles State Park January and February from large • Robert H. Meyer Memorial State storms that last for several days. The Beach dry season is considered to be from • Santa Susana Pass State Historic May-October. Very little rainfall (1%) Park occurs in June, July, or August. • Will Rogers State Historic Park Evaporation exceeds precipitation The list of land ownership of the from April to November. adjacent uses that range from public During the summer, a marine layer of beaches to reservoirs and even a fog is common along the coast during

14 Topanga State Park Legend ¦¨§5 City of Los Angeles California Counties 210 ¦¨§ NRA Boundary ·|}23 Topanga State Rocky Peak Park Los Angeles Reservoir Park Boundary Highway 118 ·|} Parks and Open Space |}118 · CA Parks and Recreation

Santa Susana Pass SHP CityHansen Dam Recreational Area County

Rancho Simi Recreation Area Sage Ranch Park National Park Service ·|}34 Other State Chatsworth Nature Preserve and Reservoir Wildwood - Wildwood Park ·|}23 Special District Woodridge / Woodridge East Open Space 405 Lang Ranch East Open Space ¦¨§ Non Governmental Conejo Canyons - Rancho Conejo Open Space Oakbrook Regional Park of Ventura Organization 170 North Ranch Lang Ranch - Jordan Ranch ·|} Cheeseboro Canyon ·|}27 North Ranch - Hillcrest Open Space (/101 Upper Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve / Ahmanson

North Ranch - North Ranch East Palo Comado Canyon (/101

South Ranch Open Space Rancho Sierra Vista Liberty Canyon Open Space Calabasas Baldwin Open Space Mulholland Gateway Park - SMMC Lake Eleanor Open Space Encino Reservoir Mulholland Gateway Park Las Virgenes Reservoir and Open Space Las Virgenes Municipal Water District Open Space Summit Valley Edmund D. Edelman Park Westlake Vista Paramount Ranch Point Mugu SP Mission Canyon Open Space Circle X Ranch L.A. County Sanitation Stone Canyon Franklin Canyon Park of Los Angeles VENTURA District Open Space Reservoir and Watershed King Gillette Ranch Westridge-Canyonback LOS ANGELES Wilderness Park Malibu Creek SP Topanga SP Cold Creek Canyon Preserve Broome Ranch Malibu Springs Zumas/Trancas Canyons Castro Crest

·|}23 SLC ·|}1 Leo Carrillo SP Charmlee County Park Tuna Canyon Park ·|}2 Solstice Canyon Tuna Canyon - Dejoria Open Space ·|}1

Figure 2 ¦¨§10

Regional Map

Topanga State Park ·|}187

Parcel boundaries are approximate and should Pacific Ocean not be considered legal descriptions. Maps are intended for study purposes only.

Miles Data Sources: NPS, USGS, CA State Parks 0 2 4 6 81 I 15

View from Dirt Mulholland

16 Topanga State Park 1 3 0 Legend 0 Top of Reseda 0 0 1 0 V 0 1 1500 (! 2 1 00 00 80 0 0 1 3 6 1 Nike Missile Site 0 1 190 0 1600 6 1 0 1 7 00 13 0 1900 V (!V Vantage Points 1 1 1 (! 1 2

0 4

3 0 0 2 0 0 1 00 1 0 0 5 0 80 1 Creeks and Drainages 3 1400 16 0 0 0 00 1400 Existing Trails 17 00 00 1500 4 1800 1 1 0 3 1 0 27 0 6 14 0 0 Highway ·|} 0 o 13 00 r 1 5 0 Topanga State Park Boundary e 00 0 l n 3 14 00 1 0 l 1 2 0 13 00 o a y 00 11 1 Contours (100ft Interval) b 6 0 n 0 0 15 0 a a 100 - 600 C C R 600 - 1000 Top of Reseda 0 u

0 S 8 Avatar 2 V 1 s (! u 1000 - 1300 150 0 it

1 l 00 G 2 0 c l 3 0 2 1300 - 1700 0 0 00 i er 00 v 0 9 1 e l l i v e d n a M

0 1 a 10 9 00 1700 - 2500 0 1 8 2000 e 0 0 n 0 n 7 405 0 1 2 0 000 C l 2 ¨§¦ 1 e a 00 O a 17 2000 n l f d 2100 y 15 1200 1 17 00 T 3 00 no 0 o 0 1000 p 20 a 00 0 900 11 0 17 C n a C 0 1400 0 0 1700 0 g 0 0 a 3 1 a 0 0 1 11 0 0 Temescal Lookout n 0 8 0 n 11 C 900 900 0 0 y 0 90 120 8 1700 a 0 0 (!V 1 y n 2000 o

14 0 0 o 0 1200 S 0 0 T y 0 n n 0 14 0

00 o 1 o 0 n 6 0 a 0 0 1 y 9 e n n 1 900

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n 0 4 1 Inspiration Point e o a 0 0 600 1600 n s 0 V V Vista Marquez 70 (! (! 0

600

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0 0 0 a B

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Topanga State Park n n k 2 a 0 6 s 0 0 y i 0 d 50 o e 0 4 00 500 6 00 n C 4 00 a 30 400 n 0 500 C y o n 400 a 3 400 0 n 0

y 5 600 0 200 Parcel boundaries are approximate and should o 0 0 0 0 20 n 1 200 not be considered legal descriptions. Maps are 300 intended for study purposes only. 1 ·|} Data Sources: NPS, USGS, CA State Parks Miles 0 1 20.5 100 I P a c O c e a n i f i c 17

Outcrops

18 Topanga State Park

the morning hours, but dissipates by and intermittent drainages have been early afternoon. Early in the morning mapped within the Park and are inland valleys may be fog-shrouded, delineated on United States Geological but as temperatures increase, the fog Services (USGS) topographic quad- dissipates until it crests the mountains rangle maps. Topanga Creek is the and is vaporized or pushed out to sea. largest perennial drainage in the Park and currently one of only three creeks left in the Santa Monica Bay Watershed that potentially supports a reproducing population of steelhead. In the fall of 2008 CSP removed a large earthen berm along Topanga Creek in the vicinity of the Rodeo Grounds. Removal of this berm has restored the natural creek channel and surrounding flood plain, allowed accumulated sediment to be carried out naturally by storms, and removed a Hydrology barrier impeding steelhead passage. The Park encompasses parts of five Portions of Topanga Creek are listed different watersheds with Topanga by the Clean Water Act as a 303(d) Creek and Upper Santa Monica Bay listed body of water exceeding the the two largest (Figure 4). The Total Maximum Daily Loads Topanga Creek watershed covers (TMDLs) for lead. Other potential approximately 18 square miles and is contributors to the poor water quality one of the few watersheds remaining in include old septic tanks and systems, southern California with large sections corralled animals next to the creek, that are publicly owned and roadway runoff, trash, and undeveloped. sedimentation along the creek. The Topanga Creek Lagoon is located Springs and Seeps at the mouth of Topanga Creek. This Springs and seeps are found lagoon once covered approximately throughout the Park and are often 30 acres. The California Department of associated with geological formations Transportation filled in all but such as faults. Fifty-six springs and approximately two acres in 1933 seeps have been identified along the during activities associated with the re- lower 3.7 miles of Topanga Creek. alignment of Pacific Coast Highway. The lagoon provides rearing habitat for Geology and Geomorphology both the endangered southern The Park is located on the eastern end California steelhead (Oncorhynchus of the Santa Monica Mountains which mykiss) and the tidewater goby are part of California’s Transverse (Eucyclogobius newberryi). Ranges. While other coastal mountain Streams/Drainages ranges run north-south, the Transverse Ranges run predominantly east-west Approximately 45 miles of perennial due to a bend in the San Andreas Fault,

Existing Conditions and Issues 19 which has pushed the mountains up Wildlife Habitat Relationships System around it. Sedimentary rocks are most (CWHR) to identify major habitat common on the western slopes while types. It is to be noted that these granitic and metamorphic rock crosswalks may not be completely dominate in the eastern mountains. equivalent due to the differential Elevations in the Park range from 0 to spatial scales of both systems. 2,614 feet above mean sea level. Chamise-Redshank Chaparral Topographic relief is diverse and in some cases extreme. This shrubland association occurs on flat to steep slopes of variable aspect at Soils low to middle elevations between The United States Department of 125 to 2,828 feet. It is dominated by Agriculture, Natural Resource chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) in Conservation Service has mapped the shrub layer with a diverse but low eleven soil series in the Park (Abaft, cover herbaceous layer. There are Botella, Chumash, Cotharin, Elder, virtually no emergent trees, but Mipolomol, Sapwi, Sumiwawa, occasionally, coast live oak (Quercus Tongva, Topanga, and Zumaridge). agrifolia), California bay These soils vary widely in depth, (Umbellularia californica), and fertility, permeability, and other California sycamore (Platanus important characteristics. There is one racemosa) can be present. listed hydric (wet) soil (Cumulic Coastal Sage Scrub Haploxerolls) identified within the Park boundaries. For detailed This shrubland association occurs on descriptions of these soils, please see gentle to very steep slopes of variable the resource inventories (Appendix G aspect at low elevations between 0 to under separate cover). 2,520 feet. It is characterized by a dominance to co-dominance of Vegetation Communities California sage (Artemisia californica), From 2001 to 2005, the National Park buckwheat (Eriogonum sp.), or sage Service in conjunction with other (Salvia sp.) in the shrub layer, and a federal and State agencies developed a scattered, mostly non-native vegetation map (Figure 5) to document herbaceous layer. The emergent tree the vegetation types found within the layer can be insignificant to infrequent Santa Monica Mountains National and can include coast live oak and Recreation Area (SMMNRA) in which California walnut (Juglans the Park is located. Mapping was californica). accomplished using The Nature Mixed Chaparral Conservancy’s National Vegetation Classification. This system classifies This shrubland alliance occurs on vegetation at the alliance and somewhat steep to steep northwest- association levels. facing slopes at low to middle to high elevations between 1,827 to 2,881 feet. For purposes of this document, It is dominated by bigpod ceanothus vegetation alliances and associations (Ceanothus megacarpus), with East- were crosswalked based on species wood’s manzanita ( Arctostaphylos composition with the California

20 Topanga State Park Top of Reseda Legend ri ulholland D ve ( M unp ` av ^ e San Fernando Valley (!V d) Nike Missile Site (!V ^` Primary Entrance Mulholland Drive (unpaved) ! ! ! ! (!V Vantage Points ! ! !

! ! ! il ! Sul ra ! li Garapito T v G Junction a 27 n

·|} C a n Geologic Features y &- o n "W Waterfall Park Features

Top of Reseda Caballero Canyon Trail (!F1 Josepho Ranch ^` F2 Trippet Ranch V Fi (! Avatar 2 (! Cheney re Ro ad (!F3 Will Rogers Hideaway Cabin Eagle Rock Hub Junction Eagle Creeks and Drainages &- G Cathedral Rock ail Springs Tr ! h ! c ! ! Arterial Street ! s! ! ! 405 ! ! ! &-

! ! ! ! !

u ! ! ! ! Eagle! Junction ! ! ! ! ! M ! ! ! ! ¨§¦

! ! ! G Highway

! ! Musch Temescal Peak ! S

! ÆQ u !

! l Camp l i &- v Topanga State Park Boundary

a

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! n !

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r

!

! e

!

! Existing Trails

! !

R !

Topanga ! o ! ! a ! !!!!!! ! d

! ! Hike and Horse Trail

! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! !

! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !

! Trippet ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Hike Only Trail ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Temescal Lookout ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! V

! ! ! ! !

! ` ! ^ ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ( o !

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o ! ! ! ! !

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! o ! m ! F d s

! c ! ! ! ! e ! ! a ail ! r ! ! l T ! e S z R ul ak i e ! d li ! s v P g le ! an d e d ! Sa ! ! R c Lone Oak ! ! T ! ! C i ! R d ! r 27 a a o g

i g e r l e ·|} l r F

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p ! ! V (!V ! a (! Will Rogers W SUNSET BL

n !

! !

Figure4

g

! ! a Temescal ^`!

Los Leones Trail

C ^`

Site Character

Topanga State Park

r

e e k Los Leones

W SUNSET BL ^` Parcel boundaries are approximate and should Pacific not be considered legal descriptions. Maps are Malibu Santa Monica intended for study purposes only. Lower Topanga Palisades Data Sources: NPS, USGS, CA State Parks Miles 0 1 20.5 ^` I P a c i f i c O c e a n ·|}1 21

Along Eagle Spring Fire Road

22 Topanga State Park Topanga/Henry Ridge Trail Legend

Drive ed) Mulholland (unpav Creeks and Drainages holla l l nd ai u D Tr M r w iv ro e Ar Arterial Street nt e B il Su Highway ra ll G T i Mul arapito v holla 27 a nd D n rive } ·| C (u Existing Trails n l a p i n a ra ved T y ) o n n o y Topanga State Park Boundary n a C o r e ll a b Vegetation a

C Annual Grassland

ty Avatar 2 Mar ir Santa ia h Barren Ca T ny d on a T o R r Coastal Oak Woodland ail e r i F Chamise Redshank Chaparral us ch M T ra 405 i l Coastal Sage Scrub¨§¦ one Trail Eucalyptus b S ack B u l li d v oa a R n Fresh Emergent Wetland e Topanga ir F i F r s e g R in Mixed Chaparral r o p a S d le g Urban De a il ad H E e Tra orse on 92 Trail Tr Backb ail Valley Riparian yon o Can Trail Hond

y a S w a n or t a ot d Y W a M n o a R e e e g z t ir d C e F i a r n R n f o a y a y g o ll n n n a il Trail T a p ra r C o T a T T e il r e g e id l m l R i si a e s r F o s T c il a ra l T R ak i Pe d dle g Sad e

T R r o a g i l e r s

R

o

a

d T r Palisades a il Highlands

Topanga S u U ll -T iv O a n P R R A id us ge ti F c ir C e a R E n ast y oa Top o d ang n a F il T Tr ir neda Tra e ai e ienve m l R e o B a s d c a l C ck a co M n ea em y L or o ial T n T r W ail r a i i l 27 l l

} al-Wi R | l c · o emes l Ro T ge g W SUNSET BL r e s C r on s

ne Figure5 ctor

Vegetation Los Leones Trail Creek

Topanga State Park

W SUNSET BL Parcel boundaries are approximate and should Pacific not be considered legal descriptions. Maps are intended for study purposes only. 1 Palisades ·|} Data Sources: NPS, USGS, CA State Parks Miles 0 1 20.5 I P a c i f i c O c e a n 23

Ramadas at Los Leones

24 Topanga State Park

glandulosa) also in the shrub layer, lasiolepis) often found in the shrub and has an insignificant herbaceous layer at low cover. layer in the mature stands. The Eucalyptus emergent tree layer can include coast live oak. This non-native woodland/forest alliance occurs on gentle to steep Coastal Oak Woodland (including slopes with variable aspects at low California Walnut Woodlands and elevations between 102 to 1,119 feet. California Bay Woodlands) The tree layer is open to dense, and it This woodland/forest association is mainly dominated by Eucalyptus occurs on flat to steep slopes that are spp. Both shrub and herb layers are often facing northwest at low sparse to open, and they may include elevations between 105 to 2,851 feet. It shrubs such as laurel sumac ( Malosma is dominated by coast live oak in the laurina) and toyon (Heteromeles tree layer with various species in the arbutifolia), as well as non-native shrub understory layer and a variety of shortpod mustard (Hirschfeldia grasses and forbs occurring in the incana) and various annual grasses. herbaceous layer. Fire Valley Foothill Riparian Fire is a natural process in southern This woodland/forest association California’s Mediterranean ecosystem occurs on flat to somewhat steep with fire-tolerant or fire-dependent slopes with variable aspects at low adaptations characteristic of many elevations between 440 to 1,509 feet. It species in the ecosystem. Vegetation can be dominated by California plays an important role in the fire sycamore or white alder (Alnus regime of the Park and plant species rhombifolia) in the tree layer or red and vegetation have evolved to survive willow (Salix laevigata) and black repeated fires. Some of these willow (S. lasiolepis) in both the tree communities, such as chaparral and and shrub layers. The shrub and coastal scrub rely on occasional fires herbaceous layers are open with a as part of their regeneration process variety of grasses and forbs occurring even though the short-term impacts of in the herbaceous layer at low cover. fire in these natural communities can Fresh Emergent Wetland appear to be severe. These associations occur on flat to Fire regime refers to the patterns of steep slopes at low elevations between fire that occur over long periods of 0 to 1,864 feet. They are characterized time, and the immediate effects of fire by the dominance of mulefat in the ecosystem in which it occurs. (Baccharis salicifolia) and a variety of Fire regime is a function of the non-native largely annual grasses and frequency of fire occurrence, fire herbs in the herbaceous layer, or intensity and the amount of fuel California tule (Scirpus californicus), consumed. The frequency is hardstem bulrush (S. acutus), and/or determined largely by ecosystem cattails (Typha spp.) in the herbaceous characteristics, weather, and ignition layer with arroyo willow (Salix sources while the intensity is influenced by the quantity of fuel

Existing Conditions and Issues 25 available and the fuel’s combustion Table 2: Fire History rates. Interactions between frequency Fire Name Date Acres and intensity are influenced by wind, topography, and fire history. Human Topanga P.O. 1925 172 activity in and around the Santa Cold Creek No. 35 1936 2,642 Monica Mountains has reduced the length of fire-free intervals to between Topanga No. 50 1938 14,532 10 and 30 years. Las Flores No. 47 1942 5,841 Wildfires in the Santa Monica Woodland Hills No. Mountains can be fanned by Santa 65 1943 14,919 Anas – hot, dry winds that move through the region every fall and Woodland Hills No. 1944 4,548 winter. These winds begin when 47 masses of cold air form over the Great Topanga Fire No. 118 1948 3,278 Basin (high desert plateaus in Utah and Nevada). The winds that spin off of Miller Fire No. 131 1948 41 these high pressure systems grow Unknown 1955 333 warmer, dryer, and stronger as they spill south and west, down through the Unknown 1956 46 steep mountain canyons towards the Unknown 1957 411 ocean. Co. Fire 123158 1958 5,116 At least twenty five fires are known to Unknown 1958 107 have burned through all or part of Topanga State Park since the mid- Unknown 1959 79 1920s. Table 2 shows the Fire History Unknown 1961 7,847 of the Park. Unknown 1968 15 Due to local topography in the Santa Monica Mountains, fires can spread Wright Fire 1970 28,202 rapidly and extensively when Santa Unknown 1972 85 Ana winds are present. Santa Ana winds in excess of 90 M.P.H. Unknown 1972 17 combined with the steep terrain and Trippet Fire 1973 2,831 north/south alignment of canyons promotes rapid fire movement. Canyon Fire 1977 1,163 Climate Change Mandeville Fire/LA City 1978 6,086 Climate change refers to change in the Earth’s weather patterns, including the Unknown 1980 100 rise in the Earth’s temperature due to Unknown 1984 7 an increase in heat-trapping or greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Mulholland Fire 1992 39 Greenhouse gases include carbon Old Topanga Fire 1993 16,468 dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and sulfur hexafluoride, among others. Human activities are adding large

26 Topanga State Park

amounts of greenhouse gases to the wildlife losses, and contribute atmosphere. Combustion of fossil fuels to poor air quality in the Park. for heat, electricity, and transportation • Increases in non-native, invasive are the main source of these gases. species interrupting and/or According to an increasing body of changing behaviors/patterns of scientific research, California’s various wildlife and fish species. diversity of habitats and wildlife are • Rise in sea levels, which could in threatened by climate change. Some turn increase wave intensity and potential effects of climate change on increase intrusion of seawater into the Park may include: Topanga Lagoon. • Changes in seasonal and mean Air Quality temperature and precipitation. • The Park is located within the South Changes to rainfall patterns, cloud Coast Air Basin which is home to cover, and/or reduction in coastal more than 43% of California’s fog impacting plant, fish, and population and represents 28% of wildlife species. California’s air pollution. Air quality • Alterations in the frequency and in the Basin has improved significantly intensity of extreme weather in terms of both pollution levels and events, such as storms, heat waves, high pollution days over the past three flooding, and drought. decades. However, the area still has a long way to go to achieve state and o While this may not directly affect visitor use, storms and federal standards. resultant flooding and Numerous factors including physiog- mudslides could damage park raphy, atmospheric conditions, and infrastructure and access roads. coastal proximity affect air quality • Elimination of plant communities within the Park, with coastal portions and wildlife habitat due to warmer of the Park generally experiencing temperatures and drier conditions. better air quality than inland areas. With increased development and • Increased habitat fragmentation and resulting increased traffic surrounding habitat shifts. the Park, air quality is likely to • Alteration of migratory patterns of continue to be an issue. various wildlife and fishes. A major portion of the air pollution • Increase in frequency and intensity affecting the Park is wind-transported of fire and a longer fire season in and likely arises from urban sources in southern California. the greater Los Angeles area. As of February 22, 2010, the South Coast Air o Chaparral plant communities Basin was designated as a serious non- located within the Park are very attainment area for the 24-hour prone to fire. The plant species national ambient air quality standard in this community are adapted (NAAQS) for particulate matter of to fire and can usually 10 microns in diameter or smaller regenerate, but increased fire (PM10). It was also in non-attainment could cause habitat conversion, for particulate matter (PM-2.5) and

Existing Conditions and Issues 27 lead, and ranked serious for particulate Appendix G for those sensitive or matter PM10, 8-hour ozone (extreme). protected species with known Dry deposition of nitrogen compounds occurrences or where habitat may exist on vegetation can contribute within the Park. Known occurrences significantly to elevated nutrients in for any special status plant species streams when the rains wash the were obtained from the CDFG compounds off the leaves of plants CNDDB Rarefind Database, CSP files, within the various vegetation CNPS, and Park personnel (Figure 5). communities. Some of the plants that were Biological Resources considered, though not formally listed as rare or endangered under the Botanical Resources California Endangered Species Act, Research was conducted prior to field meet the definitions of Section 1901, surveys to determine the vegetation Chapter 10 (Native Plant Protection) of communities in the project area and the the California Fish and Game Code, associated specific plants. This and are eligible for state listing. These research involved querying the plant species were given equal California Department of Fish and consideration during the assessment as Game (CDFG) California Natural if they were already listed species. Diversity Database (CNDDB) Rarefind Database version 3.0.5 and the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants electronic database version 7-09a for sensitive plants and natural communities, reviewing published and unpublished material, and contacting knowledgeable individuals. The Malibu Beach, Topanga, and Canoga Park USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles were used to query all databases and other sources. According to a botanical survey conducted in the early 1980s, there are 347 plant taxa known to occur within the Park boundaries. Sensitive Botanical Resources Wildlife Resources A total of twenty special status plant A query of the CWHR Program using species and six rare natural coastal oak woodland, coastal sage communities were identified as scrub, chamise-redshank chaparral, occurring in the Malibu Beach, mixed chaparral, valley foothill Topanga, or Canoga Park USGS riparian, fresh emergent wetland, 7.5-minute quadrangles (Appendix B). annual grassland, eucalyptus, and An expanded discussion is provided in barren habitats identified 424 wildlife species as potentially occurring in

28 Topanga State Park

these habitats in Los Angeles County, Paleontology California (and thus potentially The earliest accounts of paleontolog- occurring in the Park). This includes ical resources in the Santa Monica 277 avian species, 85 mammals, Mountains are from Topanga and 46 reptiles, and 16 amphibians. Temescal Canyons. The fossiliferous Sensitive Wildlife Resources strata in this area were deposited approximately 15 million years ago. The CNDDB version 3.1.0 was One of the best known invertebrate queried to compile a list of possible fossil localities within Los Angeles special status wildlife and fish species County is along the Topanga Canyon present in the project area. A total of summit. Specimens most often 13 special status wildlife species, three collected are marine organisms, marine fish species, and five invertebrate plants, and rarely, fish vertebrae. species were identified as occurring in the Topanga, Malibu Beach, or Canoga A well-known fossil locality is also Park USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles present in the Santa Ynez Canyon area, (Appendix C). Critical habitat for the just outside the Park boundaries. southern California Distinct Population Several giant ammonites (extinct Segment (DPS) of steelhead also exists relatives of the natulus) were found from the outlet of Topanga Creek to an here in 1910. endpoint approximately 4 miles Vertebrate fossils within the park are upstream (Santa Monica Bay represented by fossil specimins of Hydrologic Unit 4404). Additionally, pocket mice, bristlemouth fish, and a an estimated 4 acres of CSP lands, long-snouted fish. Other vertebrate located at the mouth of the creek, have fossil locations lie just outside the been designated as critical habitat for Park, inclding fossil specimins of the tidewater goby (LA-4 Topanaga horse, camel, deer, ground sloth, Creek). leatherback turtle, and various other CSP Environmental Scientists fish and marine mammals. compared specific habitat requirements, life history notes, elevation, species distribution, and species lists to determine if any special status species may be present in the Park. An expanded discussion is provided in Appendix G for those sensitive or protected species which may exist within the Park due to suitable/potential habitat or those that have been previously documented in the Park’s vicinity. All known occurrences for any special status wildlife species were obtained from the CNDDB Rarefind Database and Fossil shells Park personnel.

Existing Conditions and Issues 29 groundstone tools like manos (handstones) and metates. The Park is within a transition zone between the traditional territory of the Gabrielino/Tongva to the east and the Ventureño Chumash to the west. Within this transition zone there was significant interaction between the two groups including marriage, trade, and Chert bifacial stone tool political alliances. CULTURAL RESOURCES According to Tongva and Chumash The cultural resources of Topanga speakers who were interviewed in the State Park were researched, early 1900s, Tupá’nga or topá’nga is documented, and inventoried by CSP the word for Topanga in the Ventureño archaeologists and volunteers. The Chumash language and it means “point resulting data were compiled into that the mountain range, which ends resource inventories (Appendix G – there, in the sea.” under separate cover). A short synopsis Historic Overview is presented below. Topanga State Park’s historical land Archaeological and Ethnographic use reflects over 460 years of written Overview history from the early days of Spanish The creation accounts of the nautical and terrestrial exploration, indigenous people of the region tell through various attempts by Spanish, them that their ancestors were placed Mexican, and Anglo-American settlers in or brought to this area by the gods. to eke a living out of the area’s coastal Scientific evidence, such as radio- and mountainous regions. Strategically carbon dating, shows that people have located between Santa Monica Bay been living in southern California for and the San Fernando Valley, the more than 9,000 years, with some area’s rugged landscape both helped evidence from the Channel Islands and hindered land-use development. In pushing the date back to at least hindsight, the area’s inaccessibility has 13,000 years ago. Evidence of early led to the preservation of several habitation in Topanga State Park is unique areas for public recreational present at sites CA-LAN-1 and use. CA-LAN-2. Archaeologists first For the sake of expediency, the Park’s documented and excavated these sites history is divided into several in the late 1940s identifying an early, important historical eras that roughly distinctive cultural division they called correspond to its chronological the Topanga Complex. It has development from 1542 to 2001. similarities to other early cultures of southern California, but has many Spanish Exploration Period unique characteristics. Sites dating to The first historical era is the period of these early periods tend to have larger Spanish Exploration from 1542 to flaked-stone tools, cog stones, and 1769. During this time, European

30 Topanga State Park

explorers sailing along the coast or Anglo-American Acquisition and trekking across land first set eyes on Transition Period and recorded what is now Topanga The next historical period reflects State Park. This was also a critical approximately 50 years of Anglo- period of first contact between the American land acquisition and Spanish explorers and local indigenous California’s transition from a Mexican people. province to U.S. statehood. Extending Spanish Missions Period from 1848 to 1883, it was a time of The second historical period saw the severe weather conditions, when rise of the Spanish Missions as a floods and droughts eliminated means for Imperial Spain to southern California’s cattle industry. incorporate California into its north With the basis of their economy gone, American empire. During this time, and faced with financial and political from 1769 to 1822, approximately pressure, many of the early Hispanic 320 acres of the Park’s northern California ranching families were boundary along what is now Dirt forced to sell their land to Anglo- Mulholland were once part of the vast American investors. As a result, Rancho Mission San Fernando Rey de Topanga State Park’s two Mexican España. One of the most prosperous, ranchos were subdivided into smaller the mission’s huge 116,858-acre ranch parcels, and eventually sold to outside supplied such agricultural products as interests. olive oil, dates, wheat, wool, and Homesteading Period leather hides to the Los Angeles The next historical period, between pueblo and Mission Santa Barbara. 1875 and 1917, saw a flurry of Within the Park are the ruins of a lime homesteading activities in the Topanga kiln that may have been associated region, where settlers began claiming with the mission rancho’s operation. federal homesteads on public lands Spanish-Mexican Rancho Period outside the original ranchos. As a The third historical period, the secular result, primitive roads began to Spanish-Mexican Rancho Period, develop throughout the Topanga developed on the heels of the previous. Canyon area, facilitating further During this time, from 1802 to 1848, homesteading. Between 1899 and Spanish Imperial, and later Mexican 1914, at least fourteen homesteaders Republican governments attempted to filed claims within what is now promote the civilian settlement and Topanga State Park. development of California via the use Recreational Tourism Period of land grants. Initially allotted to Roughly coinciding with the latter disabled or retired military or civilian period, from 1868 to 1915, was the settlers, these ranchos grew in size to sixth historical period, which saw the accommodate thousands of head of beginning of recreational tourism in cattle, horses, and sheep on huge tracts Topanga Canyon and coastal beach of land. The Park contains sections of communities. Vacationing middle- two such land grants: Rancho Boca de class families were among the first to Santa Monica and Rancho San Vicente regard the area’s pristine beaches, y Santa Monica.

Existing Conditions and Issues 31 rustic canyons and higher mountain lagoon. Another “recreational” activity areas as purely tourist-oriented of sorts was the use of the beach for recreational destinations. This era also the clandestine dropping off of illegal saw the beginnings of organized liquor during Prohibition. governmental attempts to improve Modernization Period roads into the area to facilitate automobile tourism. The eighth historical period coincides with the modernization of Topanga Beach between 1930 and 1956. During this time, larger forces were at work to change the community’s dynamics. The realignment, widening, and installation of new bridges on both Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway elevated them from roads to major highways. This period also saw the narrowing of the creek mouth and partial filling in of the lagoon area. Evolution of the “Auto Motel” Period 1920s Vacation Tents Coinciding with the latter historical Topanga Creek and Lagoon in background. Courtesy of Topanga Historical Society. period was the evolution of the “Auto Motel” at Topanga Beach, where, from Development of Topanga Beach 1933 to 1956, the lower Topanga Period Canyon beach and lagoon area evolved The introduction of hundreds of cars from a sprawling ad hoc automobile- and trucks along the coast road tourist-oriented beach hamlet into a between Santa Monica and Topanga semi-permanent residential community Canyon further stimulated the next of beach-front cottages, mountain historical period, which saw the cabins, and small commercial roadside development of the Topanga Beach enterprises. The latter included the area from 1919 to 1930. The first National Register-eligible Topanga organized attempts to protect as well as Ranch Motel complex. A number of exploit Topanga Creek’s lagoon area disastrous wild fires and floods played occurred during this time. As a result, the broad sandy beach at the junction of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway became an extremely popular automobile-tourist destination, with an “autocamp,” rental cabins, bath house, dance pavilion, gas stations, markets, and other automobile-tourist-oriented businesses. Other recreational activities were a number of heavily promoted seasonal rodeos in a clearing north of the Topanga Beach Auto Court c. 1934 Courtesy of Topanga Historical Society

32 Topanga State Park

havoc throughout the area during this cement venture fostered nascent time. As many as 118 homes in lower community pride and public advocacy Topanga Canyon were destroyed toward environmental concerns that during a 4-day wild fire in 1938. led invariably to the development of Gentlemen Ranchers Period Topanga State Park between 1964 and 2001. Reportedly the second largest Another historical period that roughly natural urban park in the nation at the coincided with the latter two was time, Topanga State Park would associated with a number of eventually include the Los Leones and Gentlemen Ranchers: upper-middle Lower Topanga Canyon acquisitions. class professionals who, between 1917 By doing so, CSP was able to extend and 1966, sought retreat from their Topanga State Park from the busy schedules in rustic mountain mountains to the sea. hideaways. Two of these ranches: Trippet and Josepho are located within Archaeological Resources the Park. In addition, the Will Rogers The first archaeological site identified ranch at Will Rogers State Historic within what is today Topanga State Park is located just outside the Park was a village site in the Lower southeastern corner of the Park. Topanga Canyon Area, which was However, Will Rogers’ hideaway documented by Sophie Bayler in 1905. cabin is located north of the ranch, The earliest professional archaeologi- within Topanga State Park. Of the cal work within the Park began in the Gentlemen Ranchers resources within mid-1940s with the recordation and the Park, the Trippet family’s Rancho excavation of the first site recorded Las Lomas Celestiales, is one of the under the State Trinomial system in best preserved in the region. Los Angeles County: CA-LAN-1. This “Cement Controversy” Period site is an early habitation site, which has been radiocarbon dated to at least The eleventh historical period involves 6,080 years before present, making it the Alphonzo Bell “Cement one of the oldest documented in the Controversy.” Between 1925 and 1950 area. It was the location of some of the millionaire real estate developer Bell earliest and most significant was engaged in a running battle with archaeological studies in this region by neighboring residents, as well as notable archaeologists including negative press, due to his mining and Robert F. Heizer, one of the founders processing of sand, gravel, shale, and and first director of the University of limestone deposits in the Santa Ynez California Archaeological Survey, and Canyon area at an on-site concrete Adan E. Treganza, who along with plant in the upper end of Las Pulgas Heizer and others wrote and published Canyon. The resulting political battle, the first book on field methods for as well as worsening economic California Archaeologists, based in conditions, forced Bell to abandon his part on techniques developed and used project around 1931. However, stone at CA-LAN-1. quarrying continued in the area until just after World War II. There are 29 Native American archaeological sites and isolated Local opposition to Bell’s infamous artifacts that have been recorded

Existing Conditions and Issues 33 within the Park (see Appendix D). Historical Resources These include habitation sites, bedrock Topanga State Park includes a number grinding features, rock shelters, of unique historical resources that procurement areas, and work stations. represent the region’s historic growth Archaeological surveys of the Park and development from the early 18th to have not been exhaustive and there is a late 20th centuries. Further study and high probability that additional Native evaluation will have to be undertaken American sites exist within those areas to determine their eligibility for of the Park that were not examined placement on either the state or during the resource inventories. national historic registers. They are Historical Archaeological Resources listed below in rough chronological Historic archaeological resources also order. exist within the Park. Twenty-five Caballero Canyon Lime Kiln Ruins historical archaeological sites and Site isolated artifacts have been recorded The site appears to be associated with within the Park (see Appendix D). a historic lime kiln operation that may Most of these date from the early- to date back to the Spanish Mission mid-1900s. They include a lime kiln, period. trash dumps, mining excavations, cabin and building sites, and bridges Joseph B. Robison Homestead Site and trails. Due to the limited nature of and Road the resource inventories and the The stone-lined root cellar built into archaeological survey work that has the stone retaining wall behind the occurred within the Park, it is Trippet Ranch Custodian’s House may presumed that additional historic mark the site of Robison’s 1902 archaeological sites exist within homestead. In addition, the dirt road unexamined areas of the Park. leading from the Trippet Ranch Headquarters Complex to Dead Horse Trail may date back to homestead days. Reverend Frederick H. Post Homestead Site Dating from 1912, dry-laid quarried stone masonry retaining walls, cement piers, and scattered artifacts mark the likely location of Rev. Post’s “comfortable house ... in the canyon bearing his name.” Cheney Fire Road This dirt road is associated with another pioneer Topanga homestead. It belonged to Columbus and Lucy Caballero Canyon lime kiln site Cheney who settled in the area in 1889.

34 Topanga State Park

Camp Elkhorn Site secluded retreat for himself and his Camp Elkhorn was one of several wife. commercial recreational tourist- Ganatolia: the Anatol Josepho Ranch oriented destinations that sprang up Site along Topanga Canyon between 1900 The site of another Gentleman’s and 1930. Ranch, a 1978 wildfire and flood Topanga Beach Ranch Rodeo destroyed all the buildings except for a Grounds Site barn. The site is associated with a number of Quarry Canyon Limestone Quarry popular rodeos held on summer Site weekends and holidays from 1924 to The site is the remains of a 1920s to 1930. 1940s limestone rock quarry associated Topanga Ranch Motel with Los Angeles real estate investor The Topanga Ranch Motel is a loose Alphonzo Bell’s attempt to turn most grouping of small detached vernacular of what is now south-central Topanga folk-influenced wood frame cabins. It State Park into an upscale residential was an attractive, cost-effective community. alternative for middle-class automobile Wylie’s Bait Shop travelers visiting the Topanga Beach Reportedly the oldest family-run area since 1933. business in the Topanga/Malibu area, Rust/Wood Family Cottage Wylie’s has been a well-known Originally located near the mouth of location for sports fishing aficionados Topanga Creek, it is the last surviving since 1947. example of the type of vacation cabin associated with Topanga Beach’s “beach hamlet” from 1924 to 1933. Rancho Las Lomas Celestiales/Trippet Ranch Historic District An early 1940s example of a Gentleman’s Ranch, it was the headquarters of an actual working ranch where its owners also engaged in recreation activities and entertained Historic Transportation Corridors important guests like President Dwight Three historic road easements, D. Eisenhower and Vice-president Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Pacific Richard M. Nixon. Coast Highway, and Dirt Will Rogers Hideaway Cabin site in Mulholland/Mulholland Drive, have Rustic Canyon contributed to the area’s residential and commercial development since the The site is associated with the ruins of late 1800s. a cabin that Will Rogers built as a

Existing Conditions and Issues 35 drilled through the center – an uncommon artifact. • An archaeological monitoring project in the Lower Topanga Canyon area, which yielded approximately 50 items including a significant collection of Gordon’s Gin bottles and stoppers, ceramic tableware fragments, and various Slate disk fragment other miscellaneous household COLLECTIONS items. • A monitoring project in the Lower Collections are the holdings of a Topanga Canyon area recovered museum or park unit acquired and various historic artifacts including preserved because of their intrinsic glass bottles, ceramics, and metal value as examples, as reference objects. material, or as objects of aesthetic, historical, scientific, or educational In addition to these collections, two importance. The Topanga State Park non-CSP repositories (UCLA and UC collections are comprised primarily of Berkeley) hold important archaeological objects and natural archaeological collections associated history specimens. with the Park. These collections are significant as they contain objects The archaeological collections include recovered from CA-LAN-1 (the Tank artifacts representing both the Native Site) and CA-LAN-2, the first American and historic periods of the archaeological sites recorded in Los Park and, with very few exceptions, Angeles County under the official state are in storage. These collections trinomial system. include a mano/pestle combination and a portable stone mortar, as well as The natural history collection is hundreds of objects recovered during interpretively and educationally archaeological investigations between significant in that it provides park 2003 and 2007. visitors with a broad array of species common to the Santa Monica Some examples of these archaeological Mountains. These collections are investigations and their resulting described in the Interpretive collections include: Collections sec tion on page 39. • A borehole testing project in the In addition to the archaeological Lower Topanga Canyon area in objects and natural history specimens, 2003, which yielded between 50 and the Park’s collections include three 100 objects, consisting of both Chumash rock art reproductions made prehistoric and historic items. by Dr. Harold Barnes. Each is made of • Archaeological investigations at wood with a sandy cover and red Trippet Ranch in 2004, which painted symbols. recovered four objects dating to the site’s prehistoric period including half of a round slate disc with a hole

36 Topanga State Park

INTERPRETATION AND 2012 with expanded interpretation of EDUCATION the Park’s flora and fauna, Interpretation and education increases archaeology, Native American public understanding, appreciation, presence (ancient and contemporary), and enjoyment of natural, cultural, and and Trippet Ranch. Related topics will recreational values. Providing include wilderness, natural habitats, experiences that are both meaningful Gentlemen’s Ranches, and the and inspiring is one of CSP’s core Chumash and Tongva cultures. program initiatives. The educational The project will also fund interpretive and interpretive programs and facilities panels at Hub Junction to replace within Topanga State Park aim to existing wayside exhibits. Topics such connect visitors with the Park’s as geology, earthquakes, chaparral significant resources. environment, ecology of fire, trail Interpretation and Education safety, and Chumash and Tongva Facilities territories will be interpreted here. Another interpretive facility, a small Currently, interpretive facilities are amphitheater, is located at Los Leones. located in three areas within the Park: The Public Use Improvement project Trippet Ranch (the center of park will add a native plant garden and operations), Hub Junction (in Upper interpretive panels to this site. Topanga), and Los Leones (near the Interpretive topics will include southern end of the Park). The Trippet environmental stewardship, restoration Ranch Nature Center has featured of Los Leones, coastal sage scrub natural history-based exhibits for at environment, Monarch butterfly least two decades. The Nature Center migration, and use of plants by Native is currently closed, the collections are American cultural groups. in storage, and the nearby outdoor exhibits have been removed in Current Programs/Personal preparation for a State-funded Public Interpretation Use Improvement project at the Park. The Park’s interpretive programs are The building is scheduled to re-open in mostly held at Trippet Ranch. School programs are offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, October through May. The program has been designed for children in grades 2 through 5. Guided nature walks are offered on Sundays from January through the end of June. Both of these programs are led by the Topanga Canyon Docents and usually include time in the Nature Center. The nearby Trippet Ranch Nature Trail is approximately one mile long and passes through open grassland, shaded oak woodland, and onto chaparral- covered slopes overlooking the ocean. An accompanying brochure, “Trippet

Existing Conditions and Issues 37 Ranch Self-Guided Nature Trail” is Universal Accessibility of Park available at the start of the trail. Interpretation Roving interpretation is provided The Public Use Improvement project throughout the Park and is conducted will provide new pathways and primarily by park rangers. Topics interpretive exhibits that meet the frequently addressed are the Park’s department’s accessibility guidelines at plants and wildlife, fire and safety Trippet Ranch, Hub Junction, and Los issues, size of the Park, and the job of Leones. Other park interpretation such a park ranger. as the nature trail and related brochure Guided nature hikes are also provided are not universally accessible. Visitors at Los Leones and other nearby with limited English proficiency do not trailheads. These programs are led by have materials available to them in volunteers from the Temescal Canyon other languages, nor are staff or Association. Topics focus on the area’s volunteers proficient in languages plants and wildlife. other than English. Interpretive materials are not available in alternate Print Publications formats, such as large-print or audio A map of Topanga State Park is recordings, for people with disabilities. available at the Park for a nominal fee. Interpretation and Education The map includes the various hiking Planning trails and contains information on the flora, fauna, and geography of the The Topanga State Park Interpretive Park. Because Topanga State Park is a Prospectus – Part I, Will Rogers Area part of the Santa Monica Mountains (February 1977), was developed National Recreation Area, descriptions shortly after the site became part of the of the interpretive programs offered at California State Park system. This the Park are included in the 16-page document contains a summary OUTDOORS publication. This free, of interpretive resources, an overview quarterly guide is also available online of visitors and their needs, and at www.nps.gov/samo. recommendations for interpretive services. Proposed themes were Electronic Interpretation and identified as chaparral ecology, the Orientation Information Topanga Culture, recent cultural Visitors may obtain information prior history, and a farm experience to arriving at the Park by visiting the (although when compared to the CSP website (www.parks.ca.gov), then current definition of interpretive following the “Visit a Park” link to themes, these would more Topanga State Park. A description of appropriately be referred to as topics). the Park and information on its many The ecological balance of the chaparral trails, including the popular Eagle community and discussion of Topanga Rock Loop Trail, can be found on this Canyon’s extremely flammable natural webpage. The Park’s webpage environment are further noted as being contains a link to the Topanga Canyon important concepts to interpret. The Docents website, which includes Tank Site (CA-LAN-1) near Trippet information on the school programs. Ranch is listed as an important cultural resource that provides another

38 Topanga State Park

interpretive topic for the Park. The interpretive planning and exhibit The 67-page Topanga State Park development included in the current Interpretive Plan (June 15, 1984) Public Use Improvement project is includes themes, objectives, documented in three reports: background information, species • Topanga State Park Interpretive checklists, and a bibliography related Center and Exterior Interpretive to the natural and cultural features to Facilities Planning and Exhibits: be interpreted. Interpretive panels were proposed for the Entrada Area, the Vision Report – Trippet Skeet Day-Use Area, and the Backbone Lodge, Hub Junction, Los Liones Trailhead. Exhibits were proposed for (June 2006) Trippet Skeet Lodge. Themes (topics) • Topanga State Park Interpretive were expanded from those found in the Plan: Trippet Ranch Nature 1977 Interpretive Prospectus and Center, Hub Junction, Los Liones include the following: Canyon Park (April 2007) Primary Themes • Design Development Drawings A. Chaparral Ecology (May 2008) 1. Plant Adaptation to the Together, these three documents Climate provide the Park’s most recent 2. Succession interpretive planning efforts 3. Animals of the Chaparral specifically for Trippet Ranch, Hub a. Mammals Junction, and Los Leones. The 87-page b. Reptiles interpretive plan identifies interpretive goals and objectives, exhibit concepts, c. Birds and key messages. Four matrices are B. Fire Ecology also included that summarize the 1. Fire’s role in the Chaparral alignment of science, history, and Ecology social science curricula standards for 2. Fire Management grades 3, 4, and 5 with exhibit content. Techniques Interpretive Collections C. Native Americans The Park’s interpretive collections are 1. Topanga Culture People and comprised of museum collections and Lifestyle hand-held objects. The hand-held 2. Fernandeño Gabrielino objects are owned by the Topanga Peoples Canyon Docents and used as part of 3. Foods and Medicines – the Park’s school programs. These Uses of Native Plants include facsimiles of Native American toys, games, ornaments, tools and D. Trails baskets. The museum collections are Secondary Themes comprised primarily of archaeological objects and natural history specimens. a. Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica to Present Time The Park’s natural history specimens include several mounted animals, a b. Geology

Existing Conditions and Issues 39 variety of bird nests and eggs, details related to Visitor Profile/ geological objects, and insect Demographics. specimens. These collections are Support for Interpretation currently in storage but are expected to be returned to public display in the Topanga State Park Rangers and Nature Center after completion of the seasonal Park Aids present Public Use Improvement project. interpretation as part of their regular duties. One of the Park’s rangers The archaeological objects are serves as volunteer coordinator for associated with excavations and CSP’s Volunteers in Parks (VIP) isolated finds in the Park dating to program. A district interpretive 2003. These are described in the specialist provides interpretive support Collections sec tion on page 36. to the various state parks in the Los Interpretation Audience Angeles area, including Topanga State Demographics Park. There is no interpreter position Visitors enjoy Topanga State Park year assigned specifically to the Park. round. Attendance figures collected at The Topanga Canyon Docents (TCD) the Park between 1996 and 2008 show are a dedicated group of volunteers, an average annual park attendance of staffing the nature center, leading 404,302 visitors. Data for interpretive nature hikes, and conducting school and educational programs has only programs since 1974. Additionally, been actively collected since 2006. A TCD has been coordinating the comparison of park attendance and 10-week docent training program for program attendance indicates that only 35 years. The Temescal Canyon a small amount of park visitors attend Association (TCA) is another interpretive programs. In 2008, for dedicated group of volunteers, leading example, park attendance was 169,190 nature hikes from Los Leones and and interpretive program attendance nearby trailheads, and providing funds was 7,490, indicating that 4.4% of park for the Topanga State Park map. visitors attended an interpretive Local, Regional, and Statewide program. Context CSP has been collecting school group Significance of the Park’s resources program evaluations for several years. on a local, regional, and statewide Although results for Topanga State basis Park are limited, responses by teachers whose students have participated in the The resources associated with Topanga Park’s school program have been State Park have local, regional, and favorable. Teachers commented that statewide significance as a part of the hiking in nature, hands-on activities, larger Santa Monica Mountains story. and seeing exhibits of animals in their Topanga State Park is located in the habitats were among the contributions Santa Monica Mountains National of the Park’s school program. Recreation Area, a unit of NPS. Within this broad geographic area, NPS, See this General Plan’s Existing Mountains Recreation and Conserva- Conditions – Recreational Resources – tion Authority (MRCA), and CSP each Planning Influences section for more manage several parks. Of the 150,000

40 Topanga State Park

acres included within the boundary of program provider, bringing an average the national recreation area, CSP of 12 school groups to Trippet Ranch manages an estimated 33,271 acres. each year. The area that comprises Topanga State An effort to coordinate program and Park is the largest contiguous block of planning in the Santa Monica native habitat in the eastern part of the Mountains National Recreation Area Santa Monica Mountains and has some has recently begun under the auspices of the most significant marine and of the Santa Monica Mountains plant fossils in this mountainous range. Education Consortium. Members of The Santa Monica Mountains National this consortium include CSP, National Recreation Area is distinguished from Park Service, Topanga Canyon many other national parks/recreation Docents, MRCA, and RCDSMM. areas in that it is a single expanse of Brief profiles of interpretive facilities land rather than a series of pocket or programs in the surrounding parks. This is important because large communities blocks of land sustain the habitat or living space required by native wild A variety of similar resource-based plants and animals. The area is also the interpretive facilities and programs National Park Service’s best mainland exist in the surrounding communities, example of the Mediterranean Biome including one proposed facility. Brief (land type), one of the smallest and profiles of these facilities and most biologically diverse biomes programs follow: found on the face of the earth, with Ballona Wetlands Interpretive only 18 percent left undisturbed. Center (proposed): The Ballona Another distinguishing factor is that Wetlands Foundation is working in the city of Los Angeles is possibly the partnership with members of the only city in the world divided by a Gabrielino/ Tongva nation and mountain range or national recreation Friends of Ballona Wetlands to area and one of a few cities that has a design and build a Cultural national recreation area so readily Interpretive Center. accessible to so many people – 15.6 million. Chumash Discovery Village: This re-creation of a working Native Importance of the Park in meeting American village is located on a interpretation and education needs four-acre site at Nicholas Canyon In addition to the previously described County Beach in Malibu. The programs led by park staff, TCD, and Chumash Village offers students TCA, other groups provide programs and the general public a unique, at the Park. Monthly bird walks are led multi-sensory experience with by the Sierra Club and Los Angeles authentic replicas of Chumash Audubon Society. School programs are dwellings (aps), a sea worthy canoe provided by the MRCA at the (tomol), tools, and handicrafts, in Temescal Canyon entrance to the Park. addition to performance of The Resource Conservation District of ceremonies, blessings, solstice the Santa Monica Mountains activities, and celebrations. (RCDSMM) is another important

Existing Conditions and Issues 41 King Gillette Ranch: This Rancho Sierra Vista: A part of the 588-acre historic ranch, situated in Santa Monica Mountains National the heart of the Malibu Creek Recreation Area, this site reflects a watershed and at the lower end of ranching history dating to 1803. the Las Virgenes Valley, is a haven The Ranch Overlook Trail provides for larger mammals of the Santa views of the site, but no Monica Mountains. The ranch is interpretive facilities are available. owned and managed by the Satwiwa Native American Indian Mountains Recreation and Culture Center and Natural Conservation Authority in Area: Located in the Santa Monica cooperation with the Santa Monica Mountains, this learning center is a Mountains National Recreation collective effort among the Area, the Santa Monica Mountains Chumash, Tongva, and other Conservancy, and CSP. Native Peoples and the National Malibu Lagoon Museum: A part Park Service. of Malibu Lagoon State Beach and Will Rogers State Historic Park: adjacent to the historic Adamson Located along the southeastern House, this museum interprets the edge of Topanga State Park, this area’s Chumash culture, gentlemen historic (1928-1935) Santa Monica ranchers, and the birth of the Mountains ranch preserves the surfing era. original buildings and personal NatureBridge/Santa Monica belongings of famed cowboy Mountains Institute: In humorist Will Rogers. partnership with the National Park Service, customized two- to five- day residential environmental science education programs are offered for grades 4-12 in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Channel Islands, as well as single-day and multi-day trips.

Will Rogers State Historic Park

42 Topanga State Park

AESTHETIC RESOURCES As expressed in the Spirit of Place: The aesthetics experience of an “How very privileged we are to have environment is as complex and multi- such a place.” dimensional as the environment itself. Special Features and Landscape Topanga State Park’s 11,525 acres are Visitors come to Topanga State Park a wonderful composite of such for many reasons. Often they choose environments. In one park-place we specific trails and areas of the Park can experience the sublime vastness of based on what they expect to the Pacific Ocean and the steep experience. From past surveys, a few magnificence of mountainsides reasons for park visits include: to covered in thick, blue green sheets of commune with nature, to enjoy scenic chaparral; we can walk through beauty, and to see/hear wildlife. Such ancestral oak woodlands and shady, reasons relate well to how a visitor stream-fed canyon bottoms; we can experiences a given landscape view layer upon layer of scenic aesthetically. They relate to a site’s canyons and ridgelines; and we can inherent character and environmental come “home” to the rolling grassland- qualities, as well as to its special savannah. features. On a trail, recognizable features and landscapes help us to orient ourselves. They are “place-making” components. They also reward our desire for exploration and discovery. A few notable features at Topanga State Park include: • Viewsheds and Vantage Points such as Vista Marquez • Historic Sites and Structures such as Trippet Ranch • Rock Features such as Eagle Rock • Canyons and Creeks such as Santa The establishment of Topanga State Ynez, Temescal, and Topanga • Trails such as the Backbone Trail Park was an extraordinary cultural act. • It placed social value on a natural Significant Cultural areas such as landscape that can be appreciated for CA-LAN-1, the first site recorded its environmental integrity or in the State Trinomial System wholeness, as well as for its many- within Los Angeles County. dimensional complexity. Because The above features and additional people believe in its worthiness, for feature categories have been recorded these values continue through time, and mapped, and are denoted in the and because they wanted to share the Aesthetic Resource Inventory which privilege of experiencing them, these provided baseline data for this General lands were set aside as state park lands. Plan.

Existing Conditions and Issues 43 RECREATIONAL RESOURCES connects to such regional trails as the Outdoor recreation has long been a Backbone Trail and the Rim of the part of the Topanga landscape. After Valley Trail. many thousands of years of Native An on-going joint effort between the American occupation and transitional National Park Service (NPS), Santa settlement, subsistence hunting, Monica Mountains Conservancy trapping, and fishing gave way to sport (SMMC), and CSP will establish the hunting and sport fishing, while overall direction of future development subsistence ranching gave way to the of the regional trail networks, with outdoor-loving gentlemen’s ranches. Topanga State Park occupying a key Today, most of these historic position in this comprehensive recreational activities are faint planning effort. Refer to the Planning memories and scattered remnants Influence section of Chapter 2 for hidden along the extensive trail system additional information on this joint and within the vast wildlands. effort: The Trail Management Plan (TMP). Trails Camping Just as animal trails gave way to Native American travel routes, and The only camping opportunity then to horse and wagon roads; routes currently offered in Topanga State along canyons passages and the Park is at Musch Camp. This walk-in, coastline were adjusted, widened, and bike-in, or horseback ride-in camp- eventually paved, becoming the ground has eight camp sites and a designated routes we still travel today. restroom facility, as well as a few These trails and fire roads are now part equestrian corrals. Bike access to the of the predominant recreational use of Musch Campground is available via Topanga State Park. the paved service road accessible from Hillside Drive. The Park offers 36 miles of trails and hosts large numbers of trail users with Per the 1977 General Development over 60 official and “unofficial” access Plan (GDP), major campground points. The Park’s trail system development was recommended

Eagle Spring Fire Road 44 Topanga State Park

throughout the Park, including Visitor Support 25 family sites, 50 tent sites, four trail Visitor support, as used here, includes camps, a hostel, and equestrian camps. facilities like trailheads, visitor contact However, based upon the natural and elements, restrooms, parking, and cultural resource inventories picnic areas. Such facilities serve the undertaken as part of this General Plan needs of park visitors and enhance process and the desired resource their experience in the park setting. character and management, as well as the desired visitor use and experiences, Topanga State Park has been operated the GDP scale of recommended as a state park unit for over 30 years, development was deemed no longer and a small number of park facilities feasible or desirable. have been developed over this span, from a nature center in the Skeet Therefore, a more modest approach to Lodge at Trippet Ranch to an camping and overnight use was amphitheater and restroom at Los examined during this planning process. Leones. The existing nature center at The camping alternatives that were Trippet Ranch, which is earmarked for explored included the use of non- a major restoration in 2012, currently traditional overnight facilities such as serves as the main organized visitor cabins and yurts; programmed contact for the Park. Specific programs overnight camp-outs for school groups; associated with a given facility are equestrian campgrounds; and primitive further elaborated within the environmental campsites. Interpretation and Education section of Equestrian Activities Chapter 2 (page 37). Equestrian activities are closely The majority of the Park, with its steep associated with the notable equestrian terrain and remote sites, lends well to it history of the Park and adjoining areas, remaining a minimally developed area, including historic equestrian use at contributing to the “wildlands” essence Trippet Ranch, Josepho Barn, and at of the Park. Also with the Park being the Will Rogers Ranch. The adjacent to other developed parklands continuation of equestrian activity such as Will Rogers State Historic within the Park is being proposed on Park and Temescal Canyon Gateway designated trails to create interesting Park (operated by MRCA), it is interpretive and recreational opportuni- favorable for support facilities to be ties that will link the entire Park clustered at the Park’s periphery and to together. For example, equestrian use be relatively small in scale. can strengthen the interpretive and With the acquisition of the Lower educational connection between the Topanga Canyon parcel, a physical two existing Gentlemen’s Ranches: connection has been created between Trippet Ranch in the west-central part the interior of the Park and the coast, of the Park and Will Rogers State whereby a “natural and scenic Historic Park, which is just outside the gateway” into the Park can be Park’s southeastern boundary. enhanced.

Existing Conditions and Issues 45

(1,659 acres) acquired in 2001 until a PLANNING INFLUENCES new General Plan could be completed Existing CSP system-wide planning for the entire park. influences that cross park and regional With the approval of this General Plan, boundaries may affect planning the IMP will be superseded. decisions regarding the Park. The following represent such influential Topanga, Malibu Creek, and Point policies, regulations, and plans: Mugu Resource Management Plans, General Development Plans (GDP) System-wide Planning Influences and Environmental Impact Report - • Public Resource Code (PRC) August 1977 • California Code of Regulations This planning document, structured (CCR) prior to the development of the • Policies, Rules, Regulations, and Planning Handbook, published in Orders of California State Park and February 2002 and updated in April Recreation Commission and 2010 by CSP, attempted to plan for California State Parks three separate park units that shared similar resources and problems. • Planning Handbook – April 2010 However, due to changes in visitor-use (Planning Division) patterns and the passage of over • Department Operations Manual 30 years, is has become clear that the (DOM) 1977 GDP has served its purpose for Topanga State Park. • Department Administration Manual (DAM) With the approval of the updated Topanga General Plan, the GDP • California State Parks System Plan section pertaining to Topanga State • California State Parks Mission Park shall be superseded. Statement Regional Planning Influences • California State Parks Accessibility The following legislations, plans, and Guidelines - 2009 edition programs address regional issues that (Accessibility Section, Acquisition may affect planning decisions at the and Development Division) Park. The list is not all-inclusive and • California Recreational Trail Plan - the following documents and studies 2009 are being cited for reference only. • California Environmental Quality Santa Monica Mountains National Act (CEQA) Recreation Area General Management Plan Environmental Lower Topanga Canyon Acquisition Impact Statement (Volumes 1 and 2) Interim Management Plan and July 2002 Environmental Impact Report (IMP) - July 2002 In 1978, NPS was granted authority to promote joint administration of the This management plan was approved parklands with CSP and SMMC for the in July 2002 to serve as an interim majority of open spaces that fall within management tool for the parcel of land the boundaries of SMMNRA including

46 Topanga State Park

Topanga State Park and several other • Coastal Slope Trail, a proposed State Park units. NPS, SMMC, and trail from the western terminus of CSP collaborated in the development Ventura County to the eastern of the General Management Plan, terminus at Los Leones in Topanga which serves as a “global” State Park. management document for the region. • California Coastal Trail, a Santa Monica Mountains National 1,200-mile trail that will travel Recreation Area Trail Management along the coastline from Oregon to Plan (TMP) - the Interagency the U.S./Mexico border. Regional Trail Management Plan Will Rogers State Historic Park NPS, SMMC, and CSP started the General Plan – March 1992 scoping process in September 2005 for Located along the southeastern end of an interagency regional trail Topanga State Park, Will Rogers State management plan that would establish Historic Park serves as one of the main the overall direction of future trail gateways into Topanga State Park, development and completion of the and is intertwined with the historic SMMNRA trail network over the next fabric of the Gentlemen Ranching era 15 years. This network encompasses of the region. Also, remnants of the approximately 800 miles of Will Rogers Hideaway Cabin are recreational routes including trails, dirt located in Topanga State Park. roads, and paved roads. Mulholland Scenic Parkway and Upon the completion of the TMP, the Corridor Specific Plan – 1992 designation of trail use for the regional trail system shall be determined, which This Specific Plan by the City of Los in turn will influence CSP’s evaluation Angeles includes the “Big Wild,” a and final implementation of trail term coined about 1990 to describe a designations within Topanga State potential 20,000-acre wildlife and open Park. space area at the northern edge of Topanga State Park. This plan will In addition to the TMP, the following greatly influence park access and uses regional trails are undergoing separate along the northern boundaries. planning efforts: • Topanga Lagoon Bridge Replacement Backbone Trail, an approximately and Lagoon Restoration Project Study 60-mile long trail situated along the Report – 2004 Caltrans backbone of the mountains, from Will Rogers State Historic Park to a This document prepared by Moffatt terminus at the west end of Point and Nichols Engineers for RCDSMM Mugu State Park. explored various conceptual options • for the restoration of the lower reaches Rim of the Valley Trail, an of Topanga Creek and the examination approximately 130-mile long trail of various bridge replacement designs that completely encircles the San for the existing vehicular bridge along Fernando and La Crescenta valleys Pacific Coast Highway. and crosses through the northern part of Topanga State Park along the Dirt Mulholland corridor.

Existing Conditions and Issues 47 County of Los Angeles General Plan o Alameda County – 1% (including Planning Amendments for • The top non-California states where both Topanga and Will Rogers State visitors originated from included: Beaches) New York – 15% This document covers planning efforts o o Illinois, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and proposed improvements at the and Texas – each 12% former Topanga State Beach, now owned by the County of Los Angeles • The top non-U.S. countries of Beaches and Harbors. This will need to visitor origin were: be closely coordinated with any o Brazil – 67% proposed park improvements along Holland – 33% Pacific Coast Highway. o • The range of respondents in age Various Watershed and Lagoon categories were as follows: Restoration Feasibility Studies by Resource Conservation District o no response – 16% (RCDSMM) o less than 21 years of age – 4% 21 to 35 years of age – 45% Various studies undertaken by o o 36 to 55 years of age – 29% RCDSMM explored the Topanga over 55 years of age – 6% Creek watershed, including a section o along Topanga Canyon Boulevard Data from other visitor surveys dubbed the “Narrows” and the completed for adjacent Park units and examination of the creek’s water lands as well as the U.S. Census for quality and steelhead population. Refer 2010 were all examined as part of to RCDSMM’s website rcdsmm.org/ these planning efforts. A few quick topanga-creek-watershed-research- facts from the 2010 Census for Los reports Angeles County include: Visitor Profile/Demographics • Countywide population of 9,818,605 with a 3.1% increase Visitors enjoy Topanga State Park year from the 2000 census round. Attendance figures collected at • 50.4% Female the Park since 1996 show an average • 49.6% Male annual park attendance of approxi- • 50.3% White/Caucasian mately 400,000 visitors per year. • 47.7% Hispanic/Latino Origin A statewide visitor survey completed Results from one of the adjacent visitor at the Park between 1996 and 2000 surveys by NPS (SMMNRA Trail Use provides some insight into the Survey - 2003), which in part includes demographic characteristic of park trails within Topanga State Park that users as reflected by the following: connect with NPS trails, indicated that • 91% replied that they were from the dominant trail users at SMMNRA Los Angeles County. The other top were white, middle-aged men (59% of responses were: those surveyed were male), who were born in the United States, spoke o Orange County – 3% English, were college-educated, rela- o Ventura County – 2% tively affluent, owned their own o San Diego County – 1%

48 Topanga State Park

homes, did not have children under of the Park resources. After the 18 years of age, and lived in single presentation of the resources, the person households. They typically meeting participants were directed into visited the SMMNRA with friends and smaller groups to focus on specific were return visitors. People of color topics such as exploring issues, and low-income earners were noticea- challenges, and opportunities. bly under-represented in the survey An underlying concern that arose from sample. the scoping meeting was that the Park The population of Los Angeles County users desired to protect the natural and is projected to continue to grow and cultural resources by minimizing will exceed 10 million by the next development. Such concerns were census in 2020. The Hispanic/Latino illustrated by such recorded comments population will also continue to as: “Keep it wild” and “no more increase and other ethnic groups buildings” and “we have such a rare (Native American, Mexican, Multi- and precious opportunity here to do race, Asian American, and Pacific something; it would be a shame to Islanders) are projected to increase waste it on something that could be slightly, while others (Whites and done anywhere, anytime.” Blacks) are projected to decrease. Eight additional focus group meetings Another demographic projection is that were held to better understand a few those ages 55 to 85+ will continue to site specific issues that arose from the increase in 2020 and 2030. scoping meeting, including: The above data was gleaned from the 1) The future of the Lower Topanga Topanga State Park – Interpretation Canyon area, regarding the and Education Resource Inventory – fundamental relationship between June 2011. the unquestionable and rare Public Involvement opportunity to restore the lagoon/ creek with the existing and desired CSP initiated the planning process for land uses, including the possible Topanga State Park in September relocation or removal of the motel 2009, with a scoping meeting held at structures; Temescal Gateway Park located in 2) Cultural resources concerns voiced Pacific Palisades, California. Approxi- by Native Americans, which mately 60 people attended the first include the village sites under the meeting. At this meeting, the Resource motel structures in the Lower Inventory data was presented to the Topanga Canyon area and near public to provide a general background

Existing Conditions and Issues 49 Trippet Ranch; visitor-use experiences and tasked to 3) Water quality of Topanga Creek develop a Preferred Plan for the Park. and its impact to the natural They were also asked to give their resources and the ocean waters; input towards developing an updated 4) Acceptable concession opportuni- Declaration of Purpose. ties, especially along the strip of At the third public meeting, the land adjacent to Pacific Coast updated Declaration of Purpose and Highway; the Preferred Plan were presented and 5) Trail conflicts between hikers, then subsequently posted on the bikers and equestrian users. General Plan website. General Plan team members met with Other techniques used to involve the representatives from National Park public included: Service, the Santa Monica Mountains 1) establishing a website that Conservancy (along with its sister documented the General Plan agency: the Mountains Recreation and process and allowed posting of Conservation Authority), Resource pertinent planning information and Conservation District of the Santa updates; Monica Mountains, Caltrans, Los 2) having comments cards available at Angeles County Beaches and Harbors, the public meetings; and other stakeholders to solicit additional comments and input. 3) randomly calling meeting participants seeking their feedback on the meeting they had attended; 4) posting meeting announcements in local newspapers and at the Park trailheads; 5) sending out over two hundred mailings/notices of the second meeting; 6) implementing a docent survey on visitor uses. Letters, emails, and development proposals trickled in throughout the process, usually expressing particular interests ranging from a request for a permanent site in the Lower Topanga Second public meeting Canyon area to house a wildlife rescue Subsequent to the scoping meeting and organization to establishing an eco- the focus group meetings, two more art/retail center. All comments were public meetings were held, in July fully vetted and considered, ensuring 2010 and June 2011. The second the planning process reflected an meeting was a workshop setting, where informed community and state-wide the meeting participants (approx. based planning process. eighty-five people) were provided a menu of resources, conditions, and

50 Topanga State Park

Native American Input Park Support The Native American Heritage Community groups and organizations Commission (NAHC) was contacted such as TCD and Temescal Canyon and asked to provide CSP with a list of Association, two non-profit organiza- interested Native American groups and tions with many years of park support, individuals. The list that the NAHC continue to be integral supporters of supplied included groups and the protection of the natural and representatives from the Ventureño cultural resources and the development Chumash and the Gabrielino/Tongva. of recreational enjoyment of the Park. Letters and/or emails regarding the Both have been major advocates in planning process and public and focus fighting to keep state parks open group meetings were sent to each during the on-going State budget crisis. person or group on the list. Additional Also, due to the tireless efforts of the Native American individuals with original citizen groups who fought for previous experience or concerns in the establishment of the Park over Topanga State Park were also 30 years ago, the Santa Monica contacted. Follow-up phone calls were Mountains Regional Park Association made to ensure that the correspond- and Friends of the Santa Monica ence had been received. Mountains State Park need to be Two consultation meetings were held mentioned here as supporters of the with the Native Americans, one at the Park. Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ Adjoining agencies such as National Tribal Hall and one at the Park. These Park Service, the Santa Monica were attended by representatives from Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) and the Chumash and Gabrielino/Tongva the Mountains Recreation and groups. At least three individuals from Conservation Authority (MRCA) have these Tribes also attended one or more continued to be great partners in the of the public meetings. regional planning efforts that greatly Native American input came in the affect Topanga State Park. Also, form of phone calls, letters, email, and MRCA generously provided the use of verbal comments received during the their conference facility at Temescal public and consultation meetings. Gateway Park for two of the public Comments were generally supportive meetings. of CSP’s plans for protection and Other supporters are denoted in the interpretation of the Park and its Support for Interpretation section resources. The main concerns and/or (page 40). requests were for protection of the archaeological and sacred sites, continuing consultation with the Native American groups, and monitoring of future construction activities within culturally sensitive areas.

Existing Conditions and Issues 51 the protection of the Park’s resources ISSUES AND ANALYSIS is essential to the maintenance of the The following is a summary of major Park’s ecosystem. issues derived from the development of the various aspects of the park Concentrated visitor uses, expanding summary and the planning process, impacts (such as open camping), particularly the public participation adjacent land-use effects on water component. These issues are in quality and quantity, exotic species addition to the issues denoted in the invasion, and random environmental Public Involvement section on changes may have dramatic and page 49. All these issues are devastating consequences for these intertwined, making the “goals and environments and especially for the guidelines” and the “management less mobile species. Edge effects such zones” denoted within Chapter 3 as trespassing, pollution, and exotic crucial to the immediate use and future species introduction may have serious management of the entire park. negative effects on the Park’s biota and can creep in over a broad front. Natural, Cultural, and Scenic Resources Water Quality The challenge throughout the Park is to Historically, water quality had been reconcile the most appropriate land associated with either stormwater run- uses with the right balance of natural off or waste water treatment facilities resource preservation, cultural and associated with existing structures in historic resource protection, and visitor or near Lower Topanga Canyon. use. One area in particular where this Although the majority of the structures challenge is evident is Lower Topanga were removed as part of the IMP, Canyon. This area includes the water quality continues to be of National Register-eligible historic concern, particularly any impacts to Topanga Ranch Motel, situated atop the watershed upstream of the Lower highway construction fill covering a Topanga Canyon area. These concerns Native American village archaeolog- must be addressed to better protect the ical site. These cultural resources are natural resources including the in tension with on-going lagoon/creek endangered steelhead and tidewater restoration efforts and existing goby. businesses. This challenge is also Visitor Use and Experience evident at Trippet Ranch, where visitor The 1977 General Development Plan use and park operations may be (GDP) for Topanga State Park compromising historic/cultural fabric contained a large number of develop- and interpretive/educational opportuni- ment recommendations, including ties. large interpretive facilities and large Natural Resources parking areas that may need to be As the density of the urban areas scaled back to better balance visitor surrounding the Park increases, the uses with the updated resource protection of the Park’s natural inventories. However, to ensure resources becomes more challenging. recreational opportunities are not Balancing visitor use and access with limited, a holistic approach of deter-

52 Topanga State Park

mining the appropriate recreational and proficiency. The number of staff and visitor uses throughout the entire park docents available to provide needs to be implemented. Part of this interpretive and educational programs holistic approach is the examination of is small when compared to the large available regional uses that can help size of the Park and its multiple access avoid the duplication of uses and/or points. Most programs are only offered create joint use and partnership during the day, including school opportunities (i.e., shared parking programs, which prevents working trailheads, visitor contacts centers) parents from participating and also with adjoining open space agencies. prevents students and families from Recreational Facilities experiencing the nocturnal side of the Park. Significant resource characteris- Trail use is clearly the major tics need to be interpreted to increase recreational use at the Park and with visitor understanding and to promote the Park’s vast acres of open space, resource protection. including steep and rugged topography so close to an urban setting, the popularity of mountain biking is increasing within the Park, which in turn raises the classic issue of equality of trail use among hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians. Specific trail-use designations are not part of this plan because the intent of this planning process is to establish the long-range purpose and vision for the future of Topanga State Park. With the establishment of a park vision, specific park policies such as trail-use designations and regulations can then be determined by park operations. However, trail corridors, as well as trail goals and guidelines, will be established as part of this process, which will assist and influence park operations in determining the most appropriate trail-use designations. Interpretation The Park’s programs, media, and facilities are currently limited to Trippet Ranch and Los Leones. Few of these interpretive services are accessible to people with disabilities, including mobility, visual, and hearing impairments, and limited English

Existing Conditions and Issues 53

Backbone Trail/Rogers Road Trail

54 Topanga State Park