Tonner Canyon

hahn bird looks down into tiny or canyon at a spot where he used the camp as a boy scout swallows are darting about a stand of native walnut trees toy and bushes are blooming archery range but that was just to use the issue that more narrow dirt eventually became an eagle scout and assistant scoutmaster and his encounters with wilderness here inspired him to become a biologist at the recent sale of this part of the canyon which used to be the firestone boy scout reservation has left him feeling betrayed los angeles chapter the boy scouts did a great disservice by selling first and the city of industry as a result my troop and subsequently several others have pulled out of that an adjoining orange county council and some troops joined long beach the city of industry bought the property late last year and announced plans to flood part of it for a reservoir the boy scout leadership sees this deal as beneficial to both boy scouts and nature but bird and other environmentalists say the deal will be devastating to wildlife for the five most endangered plant ecosystems in california or hear entire canyon and in the adjacent hillsides so flooding that is going to in essence kill everything that's now

calling area home it is very is very heavily used by lions a lot of great size of a deer herd in here settled irritably a number of wildlife groups sought to purchase the land from the scout and are furious over the sale date tomblin vice chairman of the los angeles county council says the groups have only themselves to blame our most have every chance of you scott that was our preferred buyer and three times we tried to make a deal and he never could close they can every year verify the funds can ever get the appraisals good whatever was they could not close we couldn't wait any longer tomblin is sitting in his torrent office surrounded by rows of thick files he says the files represent the ten years the scouts tried to find a suitable buyer for the property he says the scouts were desperate for money kids went camping in the area because the scouts couldn't afford to maintain it funds from the sale will pay for a new plant on a piece of property they didn't sell problem can't understand why

environmentalists are still upset we have a blanket easement on the property even today to hike anywhere or can't anywhere or park anywhere on the property that blanket easement for sure is that they're warrior may open space lion tomblin pulls out a map it shows a reservoir covering only a small portion of the former firestone property to my knowledge and i may be wrong with to my knowledge the significant ecological areas not impacted from what we've seen we think that had you know in animals and people need water what better joy use of love nature and people working together to to ensure future but wildlife advocates have a different map they say it was drawn by consultants for the city of industry the map shows half of the property more than a thousand acres flooded by a reservoir the entire conor canyon would have to be robbed that is every living now i'm a plant removed

said you can't have a decaying vegetation in and water drinkable water not henderson is a witty or city councilmen and a board member of the wildlife corridor conservation authority and therefore harm they would have to completely clear every hillside every small canyon connected to or removing one of the most sensitive ecological areas in them so in california henderson says the city of industry never filed an environmental impact report for the reservoir it's one of the reasons his group joined the sierra club in suing the city he says there was a glitch and securing county funds for the last conservation offer that had the scouts waited a little longer the money would have been available on the sierra club's getty and suspects the city's real goal is to build housing with or without a reservoir he says any construction in the area could prevent animals from traveling down the canyon to reach a wildlife crossing under the fifty seven freeway there've been millions of dollars in purchases made by various entities in the vicinity

of the cities of wild right and what year to preserve open space for the people of those communities and the people of the whole southern california area to enjoy it while like circulation has blocked eventual a the populations of animals that those purchases were made to protect will be gone so you're talking about may be at this point maybe thirty or forty million dollars yan is a civil engineer he's peering into town or canyon from attractive multi million dollar homes recently built on a ridge of the canyon he says he doubts a reservoir is even feasible on this land because it sits in the whittier elsinore fault zone poised above the city of prayer why then if the rows of war that they've been proposing seems on the face of it not to be viable why they buy this land why the city of industry bought the land and what they plan to do with that is anyone's guess at this point in the wake of the

lawsuit city officials have declined to comment on their plans for kpcc news i'm gil says that seal baton or canyon in one day hills