$1 Million OKd Toward Coal Canyon Purchase

Orange County supervisors on Tuesday agreed to spend $1 million to help preserve a portion of Coal Canyon that officials and activists alike have long regarded as the most environmentally valuable stretch of unprotected open space in Southern California.

The canyon, near the border between Orange and Riverside counties, links Chino Hills State Park and the Cleveland National Forest. Supporters of the plan say setting aside the land would ensure the viability of wildlife in the park by creating a continuous natural corridor through a region under intense development pressure.

The money is the county’s contribution to the $20-million cost of a 653-acre parcel south of the Riverside Freeway that makes up the bulk of the corridor. Supervisors voted 4 to 0 to put the money into an escrow account while the state, which would pay the balance of the cost, negotiates with the property owner. Supervisor Cynthia Coad was out town.

The proposed purchase would connect Chino Hills Park in the north by allowing wildlife such as mountain lions, deer and coyotes to travel through an underpass below the Riverside Freeway and into the preserve, Spitzer said.