CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / MALIBU

Pepperdine University on Friday dedicated as open space a 72.7-acre property known as Little Las Flores Canyon, about eight miles from campus. The state Department of Fish and Game and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy will hold title to the land.

In 2000, the university, located on a small portion of an overall 830 acres in the Malibu area, pledged to work with government agencies to set the property apart for preservation. The land is an integral part of the watershed and ecosystem of the adjoining Tuna Canyon “significant ecological area.”

Public access will be limited via a designated trail that ascends to the Backbone Trail. Pepperdine said the property will be protected by a conservation easement held by the Fish and Game.

The area features a deep canyon system formed by Little Las Flores Creek and has reptiles and sandstone outcroppings with ledges and pinnacles for roosting and nesting of owls, hawks, eagles and ravens. Plant communities include sycamore riparian woodland, coastal sage scrub and native grasslands.

-- Martha Groves