On October 3, 2003, Governor Gray Davis announced the saving of Ahmanson Ranch. This is a day that will forever live in the hearts of those who fought so hard to save the land. I wasn’t one of those save open space folks. Indeed, the reporting we did had to do with toxic contamination emanating from the neighboring Santa Susana Field Laboratory and what devastating effects might be had if the land were developed for 3,050 homes. As we asked rhetorically in our cover story “Rocketdyne Ranch” — will the Ahmanson development tank over toxic troubles?
Yes it did. The result of which is now a lovely park and not $4 billion worth of luxury manses dotting the land denuded of ancient oaks. Pleased might be a word to describe how we feel about the result of work years in the making.
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Gov. Gray Davis gestures at expanses of Ahmanson Ranch.
Governor Davis looks out on Laskey Mesa, a rare undeveloped savanna now preserved as parkland.
Left to right: SMMC's director Joe Edmiston, Davis, LA County Sup. Zev Yaroslavsky and actor/director Rob Reiner.
Arriana Huffington, left, and Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks.
Ventura County Supervisors Linda Parks and
Steve Bennett led the political fight to save Ahmanson Ranch.
Michael Collins with Mary Weisbrock
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