Valley Commentary : Big Tujunga Wash Worth Preserving as City’s Last Untamed River : People have been talking about saving the Los Angeles River for years. They should also be trying to save this river, one surrounded by grass and rocks instead of concrete.

For many people in Los Angeles, Big Tujunga Wash has become a symbol, a reminder of what our area looked like hundreds of years ago, before developers bulldozed and before people settled.

When Cosmo World announced it was going to build a private 18-hole golf course on the land, local residents and environmentalists throughout the state were outraged, myself included.

The wash is the latest in a long line of L.A.’s natural areas to be threatened by developers. But it is more than just another flood plain. The Big Tujunga is the last untamed river in the city of Los Angeles. People have been talking about saving the Los Angeles River for years. They should also be trying to save the Big Tujunga, a river surrounded by rocks and grasslands instead of paved concrete.

Many developers care little about natural beauty. For them, it all comes down to dollars. Cosmo World’s golf course is being designed exclusively for corporate membership--unaffordable for most of us. The company claims its golf course will create jobs, but the developer’s own documents show only 50 full-time jobs would be created by the project.

As a legislator, member of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee and former chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Small Business, I have always tried to balance environmental and economic needs and believe that preservation does not mean the loss of jobs.

Preserved in its natural state, the wash can be incorporated into an 800-acre nature preserve linking the nearby Hansen Dam Recreation Area to Angeles National Forest. A public park would provide the foundation for hundreds of jobs at small businesses, as the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area is doing.

It could be the birth of a new community. With careful planning, the area could serve as a model for harmonizing environmental and economic interests.

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In 1989, I authored legislation creating the Rim of the Valley Trail for public recreation and wildlife corridors. Big Tujunga Wash is a top priority acquisition in the Rim of the Valley Trail Corridor Master Plan. The plan helps guide the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Legislature in preserving important resources.

In 1993, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy began negotiations with Cosmo World in hopes of purchasing the land and keeping it as public open space. The deal fell through a month later when Cosmo World indicated it was not willing to sell.

But things have changed in the past year. I think it’s time for Cosmo World and the conservancy to sit down and talk again.

Recently, the U.S. Department of the Interior issued a long-awaited opinion on the area and determined that any development in Big Tujunga Wash will jeopardize the viability of the slenderhorned spineflower, which is on the federal Endangered Species List. This little flower could end up being the savior of Big Tujunga Wash.

The “jeopardy opinion” issued by the Interior Department will make it difficult for anyone to build on that land. If Big Tujunga Wash is destroyed, all chances of the spineflower’s surviving could go with it.

Cosmo World has tried different strategies to address the spineflower “problem.” It pledged to set aside 78 acres within the golf course as a spineflower preserve or replant them away from the golf course. But neither of these were acceptable alternatives to the Department of Interior, especially since it is extremely doubtful that the spineflower would survive replanting. Cosmo World also threatened to bulldoze the spineflowers, a plan shot down by the California Department of Fish and Game that only served to galvanize the environmental community further.

I have written to Cosmo World’s attorney and the conservancy, asking them once again to negotiate a deal. While the Army Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over the wash, has not yet determined if it will issue a permit to Cosmo World, I think any further development in the area will be denied, especially since the Department of the Interior’s position was stated so strongly. Cosmo World’s best chance for selling the property may now be to the conservancy.

It is ironic that a small spineflower could stop development on the land. Now we need to take the next step--have the area preserved permanently for public use.

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The Department of the Interior has made it clear there should be no development on the land; environmentalists and neighbors have made it clear they don’t want Big Tujunga Wash destroyed. Now it is time for Cosmo World and the conservancy to do the right thing. This is Cosmo World’s best shot at getting a fair price for the land and the public’s best chance for preserving a piece of our heritage and keeping L.A.’s last untamed river free.