Statement from National Park Service in Remembrance of Mountain Lion P-22

The National Park Service joins its partners, friends, and community members here in Los Angeles, and around the world, in remembering mountain lion P-22. 

(Note: Today, Saturday, December 17, 2022, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that P-22 was compassionately euthanized today following complete health evaluation tests. After these tests, CDFW obtained a clear picture of the mountain lion’s medical condition and overall health. He had several severe injuries and chronic health problems. Based on these factors, compassionate euthanasia under general anesthesia was unanimously recommended by the medical team at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and CDFW officials made the decision to do so today. See complete press release at https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/mountain-lion-p-22-compassionately-euthanized-following-complete-health-evaluation-results.)

Mountain lion P-22 was more than just a celebrity cat. He was also a critical part of a long-term research study and a valuable ambassador for the cause of connectivity and for wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains and beyond. 

He was one of the oldest mountain lions in a study that the National Park Service has been conducting since 2002 and one of its most interesting. When he was captured and collared in March 2012 by National Park Service biologists, he was estimated to be about two years old. 

Likely born in the Santa Monica Mountains as the son of adult male P-1, he somehow found his way to his tiny, nine-square-mile home in Griffith Park, separated from the Santa Monicas by the 101 and 405, two of the busiest freeways in the world. Defying expectations, he persisted for more than 10 years in the smallest home range that has ever been recorded for an adult male mountain lion. 

Although he made frequent appearances on the streets of the Hollywood Hills and even, more recently, of the Silver Lake neighborhood, he was also clearly a wild cat, doing so mostly late at night, and subsisting largely on natural prey such as deer and coyotes. 

In the end, he found his way into many Angelenos' hearts and home surveillance camera footage. 

Park biologists aim to understand and conserve the species that live in and around the park for generations to come. Although P-22 is now physically gone, scientists will be analyzing his data for years to come. 

This animal's life and safe passage to Griffith Park are a testament to both the challenges and the possibilities for wildlife in Los Angeles. He showed us what mountain lions must do to survive in our urban landscape, as he dispersed through it to find a remaining island of habitat. 

He also showed us what they are capable of: surviving and co-existing with millions of people in a city as dense and sprawling as Los Angeles. 

Goodbye, P-22. Your scientific legacy will live on. 

$27 Million State Homekey Grant to Help Fund the Creation of 77 Permanent Supportive Housing Units

A month ago, the City of Thousand Oaks, in partnership with Shangri-La Industries and Step Up on Second Street announced an award of $27 million to permanently convert the Quality Inn & Suites at 12 Conejo Boulevard into 77 units of supportive housing for the chronically homeless.

The state’s Homekey program has offered a rare opportunity to leverage substantial resources to meet this challenge in our community. With unanimous support from City Council and the County Board of Supervisors to apply for the funds, an extensive, compelling application was submitted to the state for consideration. After a lengthy and thorough review process, the Governor’s Office announced the City of Thousand Oaks as a recipient of its Homekey Round 2 awards.

The multi-agency effort included a contribution of $1.8 million from the City’s Housing Successor Fund Budget, $6.6 million from the County of Ventura and the waiver of $852,875 in Quimby Fees by the Conejo Valley Recreation & Park District to support the project.

To learn more about the City’s ongoing and multifaceted efforts to address homelessness and find project updates, please visit www.toaks.org/homekey.

Groundbreaking for the the project will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 28, 2022.

Back in the 1960s, the Quality Inn & Suites was the Hyatt Lodge. See then and now pictures and more information at THIS LINK.

Trailhead Improvement Project at Cheeseboro Canyon September 19, 2022 to Early Summer 2023

The National Park Service has awarded a contract to AMA Diversified Construction Group, a company based out of Torrance, to revitalize the trailhead parking lot at Cheeseboro Canyon in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). The project will include site grading; the installation of potable water and storm drainage utilities; new gravel-paved roadways and lots; a pedestrian pathway; and a new vault toilet.

“This project will make a big difference for thousands of hikers, cyclists, and equestrians who recreate in this area year-round,” said Jody Lyle, acting superintendent for SMMNRA. “It will also provide better storm water protection for our Agoura Hills neighbors who live near the trailhead.”

The project is slated to begin on Sept. 19, 2022, with expected completion by early summer next year. Construction will occur four days a week—Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. No regular work will be performed on Fridays, weekends, and federal holidays unless there’s a weather delay or unforeseen situation. With fire season right around the corner, park officials will monitor fire weather forecasts and take necessary precautions during red flag days.

The entire area around the existing parking lot (see accompanying map) will be closed during construction. Hikers, cyclists, and equestrians can still access the greater Cheeseboro and Palo Comado trail system via the Lower Cheeseboro Canyon Trail leaving from a temporary parking lot just south of the construction area. Several short trail sections (totaling approximately one mile) will be closed during construction.

This project combines federal dollars with private funds from the National Park Foundation, the Santa Monica Mountains Fund, and the Clifford Holmes estate. Holmes, a property ranch manager for actor Bob Hope, left his estate to this project after he died in the 1980s.

For general questions about the project, contact Ana Beatriz Cholo, the park’s public information officer, at ana_cholo@nps.gov.

California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks Announces It Is Closing Its Doors on June 19th

Note from the California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks (CMATO) today:

With great sadness, the Board of Directors of the California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks (CMATO) announces that as a result of significant revenue losses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum will close its doors on June 19 after nearly ten years of operation.

Founded in 2008, CMATO's mission is to engage, educate and enrich the lives of our visitors and our community through the visual arts. The Museum has presented acclaimed exhibitions, delivered hundreds of educational programs for adults, families and seniors, and welcomed thousands of visitors since opening its first physical space in 2015.

Sadly, we are not alone in facing this operational distress. We know from the American Alliance of Museums that many museums continue to face substantial financial losses following the pandemic, and that thousands of smaller museums, long under resourced, are at risk for permanent closure.

This is a deep disappointment to all of us who cherish CMATO, our mission and who share our belief that access to art, in all of its forms, is essential to a thriving community. The Museum has been a gathering place for the community for many years, allowing us to examine our shared humanity, to voice and to express, and to bring people and ideas together.

We hope CMATO's lasting impact will live on through the creativity of families, children, teachers, artists, and all who have been touched by what our founders believed: that CMATO exists for the enjoyment, education and benefit of all.

Peter Strauss Ranch to Reopen to the Public on Monday, June 6, 2022

The grounds of Peter Strauss Ranch will reopen to the public on Monday, June 6 in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The public is invited to park on-site, picnic and hike through the beautiful oak woodlands. The site will be open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset.

After suffering significant damage from the November 2018 Woolsey Fire, Peter Strauss Ranch remained closed for two essential activities. The National Park Service (NPS) completed multiple soil lifts to remove hazardous materials after the fire. The site served as a staging area for the County of Los Angeles to reconstruct the Mulholland Highway bridge over Triunfo Canyon Creek. With the completion of both projects this spring, the site is ready for public access.

Beyond Peter Strauss Ranch, the Woolsey Fire damaged 112 miles of trails and 88 percent of federal park land in the Santa Monica Mountains. Thirty structures and outbuildings were also destroyed. NPS staff worked hard in the weeks and months following the fire to reopen trails, clear roads, stabilize hillsides, repair culverts and conduct surveys.

Named for Emmy Award-winning actor Peter Strauss, the last owner of the property, the ranch was originally purchased in 1923 by Harry Miller. The historic ranch house, built in 1926 and completed a year later, was destroyed during the Woolsey Fire. Visitors can still discover an Italian terrazzo tile concert area where country legends Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson performed in the 1950s. There is also the relic of an enormous outdoor swimming pool from the property’s Lake Enchanto period, which lasted between 1939 to 1965.

Peter Strauss Ranch is located at 30000 Mulholland Hwy, Agoura Hills.

For more information about the long-term plans for the recovery of Peter Strauss Ranch, read the draft Environmental Assessment (EA).

Groundbreaking of Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills on Friday, April 22nd

Press release from the National Park Service is below. The groundbreaking event at 10am on Friday can be viewed via livestream at savelacougars.org/groundbreaking as well as at King Gillette Ranch. 26800 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas. Additionally, a Crossing Celebration will take place after the livestream from 11:30 a.m. to 2: 30 p.m. at King Gillette Ranch, including food and carnival games.

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Twenty-five years of research by National Park Service (NPS) biologists and collaborators have documented the effects of habitat fragmentation and pointed to the importance of connectivity in the region, culminating in the wildlife overpass that is breaking ground this week in Liberty Canyon. Mountain lion study photo and video album here.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for Friday, April 22. The new crossing will re-connect an entire ecosystem that has long been fragmented by an almost impenetrable barrier for wildlife – the 101 Freeway's 10 lanes and more than 300,000 vehicles a day.

Organizations and institutions like the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Caltrans, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, among many others, were instrumental in discovering a solution to remedy this conservation crisis.

"Our partners have taken our science and worked to change this corner of the world," said David Szymanski, superintendent of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA), a unit of the NPS. "They have bought critical lands, designed and built public works, raised funds, and developed the protections that give wildlife a chance of surviving into the future."

Since 1996, NPS biologists have researched carnivores and other local wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains and the surrounding region. The project began right in the Liberty Canyon area, with the tracking of bobcats and coyotes, and it expanded to include mountain lions in 2002.Overall, the research has focused on urbanization and habitat fragmentation in wildlife communities.

"It's super exciting to see the science that we've worked so hard on for many years result in concrete action to benefit wildlife," said Seth Riley, wildlife branch chief for SMMNRA. "This is a pivotal moment for conservation and for our park."

From the beginning, it was clear that the 101 Freeway was a major barrier to movement, even for wide-ranging species like carnivores. Later, National Park Service and UCLA studies found that the barrier effect extended to gene flow. They found genetic differentiation because of urban development and roads for bobcats and coyotes, smaller, more abundant species such as western fence lizards, and even for a bird, the wrentit.

Thus far, the most significant genetic effects have been seen in mountain lions.

The population in the Santa Monica Mountains has one of the lowest levels of genetic diversity in the state or across the west. More recently, biologists have begun to see the physical effects of that low genetic diversity, specifically kinks at the end of tails, a male with only one descended testicle, and poor sperm quality, documented through research conducted by scientists at UCLA. These were all common characteristics linked with inbreeding depression in mountain lions in Florida that nearly went extinct in the early 1990s.

"This crossing is timely, considering our recent discovery of the first physical signs of inbreeding depression occurring in our isolated mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains," said Jeff Sikich, the lead field researcher on the mountain lion study. "Habitat fragmentation is the key challenge wildlife is facing here."

Sikich added that mountain lions may be the first affected and most at risk of being lost, "but the wildlife crossing will also benefit other species whose movements are blocked by this massive freeway."

This crossing will increase connectivity over the most significant barrier to connecting the Santa Monica Mountains to other large natural areas. Still, it is crucial to better understand and ultimately improve connectivity in other areas.

For instance, the 118 Freeway separates the Simi Hills, north of the 101 Freeway, from the Santa Susana Mountains. A recently initiated study by NPS and Caltrans is evaluating wildlife movement, survival, and potential road-crossing there.

Other critical locations include the Conejo Grade in the western Santa Monica Mountains, also along the 101 Freeway, and along the 5 Freeway in the Santa Clarita area where the freeway separates natural areas to the east and west.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park Service, it comprises a seamless network of local, state and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/samo.

Angel City Football Club to Train at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks

Cal Lutheran alumna and ACFC’s Director of Corporate Partnerships Alex Mallen, second from the left, played a key role in bringing the university and the club together. With her on North Field are Cal Lutheran Director of Athletics Holly Roepke, ACFC Supporter Relations Manager Austin Hilpert, ACFC Director of Soccer Operations Marisa Leconte, ACFC Vice President of Player Development and Operations Angela Hucles Mangano and Cal Lutheran Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success Matthew Ward. (Photo credit: Tracie Karasik)

Today, Angel City Football Club (ACFC) announced that California Lutheran University will serve as the inaugural training site for the National Women’s Soccer League team.

Angel City, which is bringing women’s professional soccer back to Southern California, will begin practicing today at Cal Lutheran’s Thousand Oaks campus as it prepares for the 2022 season kicking off this spring.

"It’s wonderful to have a new home in Cal Lutheran, which provides the elements of a practice facility that an elite team needs to train at peak form,” said ACFC Vice President of Player Development and Operations Angela Hucles Mangano. “Finding so many high-quality features in one location in the greater Los Angeles area is rare, and Cal Lutheran has those elements.”

ACFC will provide internships to undergraduate and graduate students at Cal Lutheran, which began offering a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 2020. The organization’s staff members will guest lecture in a variety of Cal Lutheran classes, and club members will participate in chalk talks with student-athletes. The club’s leadership also will host students and staff at Angel City’s Los Angeles headquarters for an entrepreneurial workshop.

ACFC is one of the first majority female-founded, female-owned and female-run professional soccer teams. The team’s founders are Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman; technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman; media and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman; and venture capitalist, Seven Seven Six founder and former Executive Chair of Reddit Alexis Ohanian.

ACFC’s Director of Corporate Partnerships Alex Mallen, a Cal Lutheran alumna, played a key role in bringing the university and the club together.

As a component of the partnership, Angel City will support efforts to renovate the university's North Field, where it will practice, laying the foundation for the site of a future track after the club departs. The university has not had an on-campus track for its track-and-field teams since 2004.

The agreement allows the team to base its training operations at Cal Lutheran for at least two years with the possibility of an extension to a third year. In addition to North Field, Angel City will use facilities within William Rolland Stadium and Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center.

The university has a long history of partnerships with high-level athletic teams. Cal Lutheran has been home to the Los Angeles Rams training facility since 2016, and it hosted the Dallas Cowboys training camp from 1963 to 1989. The 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic men’s water polo teams trained in Samuelson Aquatics Center.

“Cal Lutheran is thrilled to develop this win-win partnership with Angel City. We take great pride in being a regional asset and having two professional teams currently using our beautiful campus as their professional training sites,” said Cal Lutheran President Lori E. Varlotta. “At the same time, we are pleased that this burgeoning relationship will provide our students with internships, access to stimulating guest lectures and a glimpse into what successful entrepreneurship looks like.”

ABOUT ANGEL CITY FOOTBALL CLUB

Angel City Football Club (ACFC), the 11th member of the National Women's Soccer League, will take the pitch in Spring 2022 and call Banc of California Stadium in downtown Los Angeles their home. Former England Women’s National Team forward Eniola Aluko leads the team as sporting director, and Freya Coombe is the team’s head coach. Learn more about ACFC at www.angelcity.com, and follow the team on social media @weareangelcity. Season tickets start at $180 for 12 home games, and group deposits are now on sale at https://angelcity.com/tickets.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

Cal Lutheran is based in Thousand Oaks, California, with additional locations in Woodland Hills, Westlake Village, Oxnard, Santa Maria and Berkeley. With an enrollment of about 3,800 students, Cal Lutheran offers programs through its College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Psychology, School of Management, School of Professional and Continuing Studies and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education, Cal Lutheran attracts students from across the nation and around the world from a diversity of backgrounds, cultures and faiths. For more information, visit CalLutheran.edu.

National Park Service Releases Film "To Right a Wrong: The Story of Ballard Mountain"

Today, the National Park Service released a new 13-minute film called To Right a Wrong: The Story of Ballard Mountain, which documents a community effort to change the name of a local peak in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA).

Previously known as a racial slur, the mountain was renamed in 2010 to honor the first black family to homestead in the Santa Monica Mountains. View the film below.

The short documentary details the efforts of area residents and historians to remove the offensive name from a local mountain, located south of the cities of Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills, California. Their actions reverberated across the region and ended up reaching the modern-day Ballard family, descendants of John Ballard whom the mountain was eventually named for. The inspirational, heart-wrenching film chronicles the resiliency of a family who overcame incredible hardships.

"So often people will give attention to something because it's media worthy, but this was something that a group of folks thought was worthwhile," said great, great grandson Ryan Ballard referring to the renaming effort. Ryan’s father, 96-year-old Reggie Ballard, was also extensively interviewed for the film.

Local historian and Moorpark College history professor Patty Colman and residents Paul and Leah Culberg were instrumental in making the name change happen. They chronicle their recollections in the film, along with SMMNRA park superintendent David Szymanski.

"Ballard Mountain is the untold story of an African American family’s experiences in the Santa Monica Mountains and the City of Los Angeles,” Szymanski said. “It is important because it reminds us of the unrecognized people who passed our cities and parks down to us.”

Funding for the project was provided by the Santa Monica Mountains Fund and the National Park Service. The film was directed and filmed by Darius Dawson and edited by Austin Rourke, both alums of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. It was written and narrated by Ana Beatriz Cholo, the public affairs officer for SMMNRA. Additional photography was provided by Kayla McCraren, the park's visual information specialist.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park Service, it comprises a seamless network of local, state, and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit nps.gov/samo.

www.nps.gov/samo/learn/historyculture/ballard-family.htm