Street Could Threaten Trails

I spend a lot of time on the fire roads and trails in the mountains south of the county road portion of Mulholland. There are not many of us there. The trails are a well kept secret.

The majority of people living in the Valley would be surprised to know that running, hiking, mountain biking and walking in such beautiful surroundings are just minutes away from a glow-in-the-dark neon Ventura Boulevard. I’ve run from the Valley side over the mountains to the beach, failing to see another person. The solitude is grand.

Cliches are cheap, but if one gives an inch, someone else takes a mile. If Harlan Lee is successful in paving Reseda Boulevard to Mulholland, it won’t stop there. Someone else will cry the need to have the entire length of Mulholland paved. And then the trails.

And all this to solve a traffic problem for the rich?

The proposed road up Reseda and then east to Encino will create more problems than it will solve and will disturb an already threatened ecosystem existing in the Santa Monica Mountains.

There’s a handwritten sign at the corner of Wells and Vanalden. Someone’s pet is missing. My guess is coyote food. There’s an article in the paper--someone in Encino is disturbed. The deer are coming down from the hills only to eat roses.

My guess is the deer are hungry and thirsty. Acting through sheer greed, we’ve displaced species upon species. Is it any wonder? Man knows no balance.

JAN OLSON

Van Nuys