By Susan Chasen
In a remarkable triumph of volunteer effort, the dream of a 60-foot bridge to continue Viewridge Trail across a 17-foot-deep ravine and onward to Santa Maria Road is now a reality.
And with this important new trail, the public now has its first real access
to the eastern, much larger portion of Summit Valley Ed Edelman Park.
On January 31, after an exciting
and suspenseful three hours of stopping and starting, the bridge finally made
it across the 50-foot break in the trail.
Using almost humorously small-scale equipment--a tiny but versatile Takeuchi
excavator, a winch powered by a chainsaw motor, and a couple pulleys--and ultimately
a lot of human muscle power to keep the bridge from falling into the ravine,
the job was finally completed to the cheers of about 30 helpers and onlookers.
"It was really precarious at one point. Everybody was pulling," said
an excited Herb Petermann, who is president of VOICE (Viewridge Owners Involved
in the Community and Environment), the Viewridge organization founded in 1988
to help fight the Canyon Oaks development of Summit Valley.
"But it's fabulous. It all came
together. And it's a great hike from Viewridge over to Santa Maria Road and
to the picnic site."
For those involved, this bridge-building project represents many inspiring successes--from
the unique features of the bridge itself, to the volunteers that got the project
off the ground, and the Los Angeles Conservation Corps (LACC) involvement to
the final result--a new beautiful gentle trail just over a mile long, with spectacular
views, available to hikers of all abilities, as well as equestrians and bicyclists.
And now there is the hope that one
day the trail will be extended to reach dirt Mulholland and Topanga State Park.
FINDING THE TRAILHEAD
The trailhead is located about a
third-mile from Topanga Canyon Boulevard at the end of Viewridge Road, directly
across from the guard stand at Summit Pointe, but not down the concrete steps
which are not part of the trail.
The bridge, overlooking a quiet little spring, is between a half- and three-quarters-of-a-mile
down the trail. Continuing on for another half-mile, the trail crosses Santa
Maria Road to an old fire road and a Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy sign.
From that point, about a third of
a mile up trail crews have created a pathway to a beautiful picnic site atop
a rocky outcropping overlooking Santa Maria Creek with panoramic views of Topanga
State Park.
Funding for the bridge was provided by a Proposition A grant from the Los Angeles
County Regional Park and Open Space District. The $70,000 grant covered $26,500
for the bridge; $13,900 for design, consulting and administrative costs; and
$39,600 for site preparation, equipment rentals, signs and work crews from the
Los Angeles Conservation Corps.
What was unusual about the grant was that the non-profit Santa Monica Mountains
Trails Council (SMMTC) was the lead applicant and has taken charge of the project.
The co-applicant was the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a
joint powers agency involving the Conservancy and two other park districts.
A TRAILS COUNCIL FIRST
While the Trails Council has built
many trails and has received grants before, this project is a first. "This
was the largest grant that we've gotten," said Linda Palmer, SMMTC Vice
President. "We've never bought a bridge before."
Palmer, along with SMMTC president Ruth Gerson, were both on hand for the exciting
bridge pull.
For Gerson, the bridge project is unique for bridging connections between a
diverse group of people as well as an impassable break in the trail. "It's
the physical getting together," said Gerson. "Everybody's working
together." And, said Gerson, "It provides access on a blocked trail
for the public."
GROUP EFFORT
On-site were trail builders from
the Sierra Club, led by veteran trail designer/builder Ron Webster; bridge contractor,
Roger Bell; as well as a few crew members and field manager Mike Waltz , who
operated the excavator/tractor for the simultaneous pushing-pulling operation
that ultimately drew the 8,000-pound bridge across the 50-foot chasm.
Also present were: 10 crew members from the Los Angeles Conservation Corps,
which trains at-risk young adults for conservation work; and neighbors including
Lew Landau--who lent an all-terrain vehicle, known as a quad, for carrying materials
in and out--and C.J. McDonald--who lent an ATV and really joined forces with
the contractor to get the bridge built and across the ravine.
"It's totally unique," said Webster of the bridge effort. "It's
just not done--all these busy local people helping a contractor do his job."
According to Webster, the Conservancy is barely aware of this project and is
going to be very surprised to see it completed.
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy acquired the 662-acre property, now known
as Summit Valley Edmund D. Edelman Park, in 1994 after a 16-year battle--the
longest in county history--to protect the area from development.
The developer, Canyon Oaks Estates Partnership, ultimately agreed to sell the
property for $19.9 million rather than go forward with plans to build 97 homes
and a golf course. The sale included the 257 acres of Summit Valley on the west
side of Topanga Canyon Boulevard as well as a larger portion on the east side--405
acres-- which also was intended for eventual development.
TRAIL BUILDER EXTRAORDINAIRE
Webster--a Culver City resident whose
legendary trail-building in the Santa Monica Mountains dates back to the 1970s
with the Musch Trail at Topanga State Park--recalls locating the trail in 1994
after the property was acquired for parkland.
"I wander around and look at things," said Webster.
Webster had a 1946 map that showed a road where the trail is now, but he was
not able to find it. So he made his way up the stream-bed. Finally, when he
reached the ravine, he could see the clearing of the old road above him on each
side. "There had to be a bridge there," said Webster. "But we
have not found the tiniest piece of a bridge. So that surprised the hell out
of me."
At one point down from the trail there is a rusty old car that looks like a
model from the 1940s or before.
After finding the road and the break in it, Webster said, "I never believed
ever that we'd get a bridge in here."
But it didn't keep him from hoping: "I would just talk it up to people,"
said Webster.
GRANT WRITER EXTRAORDINAIRE
In the end, said Webster, it was
a former Conservancy employee, Bonnie Kopp, who made it happen--and completely
on her own time. "Without Bonnie Kopp there would be no bridge here,"
said Webster. "Without her, nobody would know how to write the grant."
Kopp, a Woodland Crest resident who describes her home as "Topanga adjacent,"
said she knew it would be a winning proposal because the applicants had a strong
record of working together.
"This is just so great," said Kopp, who visited the site the day the
bridge was assembled. "It was just the most fun I've had in a very long
time--to see it come to fruition. A year ago it was just an idea."
Kopp, who now works as a land-use and political lobbyist for Afriat Consulting
Group, describes the project as a "model of efficiency and ecology"
that is inspiring for the harmony among all the participants.
Unlike with lobbying, said Kopp, "Nobody's fighting you. Everybody's working
together. It's a very inspiring sort of textbook case of community involvement,"
said Kopp. "It's what this community is about. It's just fantastic."
The grant came together in November 1998 after Kopp got a call from Roger Pugliese
of TASC (Topanga Association for A Scenic Community) about a grant deadline
in three weeks. Kopp said that after her work at the Conservancy, three weeks
sounded like a great luxury.
PRAISE FOR THE PETERMANNS
But, said Kopp, "It never would
have happened without Herb and Joan Petermann." She said it was the Petermanns
and VOICE that handled all the production of the grant materials--with photographs,
maps and letters of support--and Ron Webster who helped finalize the budget.
"It's just too cool," said Kopp, noting that even the security guards
at Summit Pointe helped by keeping an eye on equipment and supplies: "Everybody
who was even a little bit involved helped out."
As for the trail, said Kopp, "Most people don't even know that that acquisition
spanned both sides of the road. And of course it's a dream of everybody's that
that trail will someday go all the way to Corbin Tank on public land."
BRIDGE STATS
The bridge itself was provided by Roger Bell, whose Redlands-based company,
Naturetec Trail and Bridge Technologies, is a distributor for this type of composite
bridge.
This is Bell's sixth bridge in the Santa Monica Mountains, but it's by far the
longest. "We think it's really the cat's meow," said Bell of this
type of bridge.
These bridges--manufactured by E.T. Techtonics, Inc. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--are
made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic and actually have a greater strength-to-weight
ratio than steel. But, because the components are lightweight they can be carried
in and assembled quickly almost anywhere, and they don't require massive concrete
abutments.
Otherwise, said Bell, to get the bridge delivered, "You would have to cut
trees out and you'd be looking at a helicopter coming in."
But most importantly, a wooden or steel bridge project would have cost far more,
and would not likely have been funded any time soon.
The Topanga bridge is light olive green with timber decking, six-feet wide,
with a weight capacity to easily accommodate horses.
Petermann videotaped as the bridge was pulled across the ravine. Bell said he
wants to use the tape to promote this kind of community-led effort at trail
conferences. "This is a really neat idea of working cooperatively with
volunteer organizations," said Bell. "We'd like to show people how
this can be done.
"You couldn't ask for a greater group of people to work with. This is just
fantastic. And this is a great improvement. It makes this trail now really usable."
Bell, who is also president of Bellfree Contractors, Inc., has been in the trail-building
business for 30 years. In addition to fiberglass bridges, he also distributes
and installs Geoweb products which are used in stabilizing hillsides--a type
of solution that has been mentioned in Topanga discussions concerning alternatives
to the Caltrans wall south of Robinson Road.
"It flat-out works," said Bell. "And it disappears totally."
The bridge project also represented a unique kind of project for the LACC, according
to Randal Ridges, who supervised two crews of 10 who worked at different times
widening the trail as well as bringing in and assembling the bridge at the site.
"Usually, we're kind of invisible," said Ridges of other LACC conservation
work, whether it is trail cutting, tree planting or litter removal.
"There's more community involvement and interest [here] than usual. And
when people from the Canyon come in, they get a good understanding of how activism
works and how community members participate."
Also, said Ridges, LACC workers are well trained for this sort of work. Other
laborers might be paid less, but they would not have the same skills, he said.
AT RISK YOUTHS LEND A HAND
Training of the LACC, Ridges said,
centers on environmental awareness and job skills that apply to conservation
as well as to other types of projects. One condition of Prop A funding is that
15 percent must be spent on employing at-risk youths and young adults.
Participants, he said, are generally young men and women who, for one reason
or another, haven't finished school--they may be single parents or living on
the streets--and may not otherwise be seen as employable.
Initially, those accepted into the program spend a week in the mountains where
they begin to learn about teamwork and reliance on each other, about leadership
and about conservation. Many don't make it through the program, said Ridges--many
don't even make it through the first week at camp in the mountains.
But the successes make it worthwhile. According to Ridges, one graduate of the
18-month program has gone on to become a ranger in the Santa Monica Mountains,
and six others are doing internships with the Bureau of Land Management.
Ridges, a former Peace Corp member, said everyone on the LACC staff is there
to make a difference in people's lives. "None of us are here for the money,"
said Ridges. "All of us are here because we believe in being present and
giving back."
With completion of the bridge, VOICE now has its sights on passage of Proposition
12 in March which could provide funding for additional acquisitions and trails.
In a letter last month to the Conservancy, Petermann, as chair of VOICE, urges
protection of the northern ridgeline of Summit Valley and completion of the
Santa Maria Canyon Trail to link the eastern portion of Edelman Park and the
Viewridge Trail to Topanga State Park.
A dedication for the new bridge is planned for later this month.
By Michele Johnson
If you care about the future of your
world come, on Tuesday, February 15, at 7:00 p.m., to Topanga Elementary School
to hear and question the candidates vying to become the Democratic nominee for
California's 41st Assembly district seat. Assemblyperson Sheila Kuehl must give
up her seat due to term limits (she is, however, running for the state Senate),
so in our highly Democratic district odds are that her replacement will be one
of these Democrats, giving the upcoming primary added importance.
The event, co-sponsored by the Topanga Democratic Club and the Topanga Town
Council, will feature all four active candidates--David Freeman, Fran Pavley,
Tony Vasquez and Brenda Gottfried.
Pavley, a four-term Mayor and Councilmember from Agoura Hills and member of
the California Coastal Commission, comes heavily armed with the endorsements
of former Congressman Anthony Beilenson, the Sierra Club and many of Topanga's
leaders. As an educator who also holds a Masters degree in Environmental Planning,
Pavley says she will fight to save the environment and the educational system
in California.
Former Santa Monica City Councilman Tony Vasquez was also once a school teacher
and teacher trainer. He describes himself as "a strong advocate for public
safety," who helped add members to the Santa Monica Police Department and
helped bring earthquake relief to the city after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
He is a strong promoter for raising the minimum wage and providing affordable
housing and adequate health care.
Until January 1, David Freeman was the General Manager of Los Angeles' Department
of Water and Power when he took a leave of absence to run for the 41st Assembly
seat. According to his publicists, the 73-year-old Freeman has worked most of
his life in energy conservation and renewable resource development. In the early
'60s President John F. Kennedy appointed Freeman Chairman of the Federal Power
Commission, and under President Johnson, Freeman helped form the Environmental
Protection Agency. Freeman has been named Conservationist of the Year by the
National Wildlife Federation, and has the backing of Mayor Richard Riordan.
Come on February 15 to join the Topanga Democratic Club and do battle for election
2000. Hear the candidates, question them, and join with your neighbors in making
Topanga's presence known. Come to put in your two cents. Come to show you care.