I am surprised to read that Malibu City Manager Katie Lichtig was apparently less than cordial in response to Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) Superintendent Woody Smeck’s friendly comments about Malibu. And I wonder if Ms. Lichtig’s remarks reflect our City Council’s views. I hope not, because the SMMNRA is our park, and Malibu residents swarm all over it year round.
Ms. Lichtig is reported to have said Malibu’s interests and those of the park don’t always converge, and is quoted as follows, “Their job is to attract visitors. Mine is to protect the interests of city residents.” Lichtig is reported to have also pointed out that Malibu already receives 10 to 12 million of the 30 million visitors who annually visit the park. This is probably not quite accurate since the majority of visitors to the SMMNRA are on LA County Beaches from Pacific Palisades through Venice, and the majority of urban visitors reach the park via the Ventura Freeway.
Ms. Lichtig might be surprised to learn that a significant proportion of hikers, horseback riders, nature studiers, geology students, plein-air painters, bird watchers, and mountain bicyclers who visit the SMMNRA are Malibu residents-and that realtors frequently tout the advantages of property adjacent to parklands.
Malibu residents helped draft, and many lobbied for, the legislation that created the park, in order to save thousands of acres of unique and diverse open space for our enjoyment. Malibu residents volunteer in park programs that teach visitors, particularly school children, to understand and appreciate nature. Two Malibuites, Margot Feuer and I, served for ten years on the SMMNRA Advisory Commission, balancing the needs of residents and the visiting public.
I hope Ms. Lichtig will make an opportunity to tour the SMMNRA with Woody Smeck and see the magnificent ridges, canyons, riparian areas we have saved for the benefit of surrounding communities and the nation. She might try to imagine what that countryside would otherwise look like today and see how Malibu’s interests do converge with those of what is after all our park.
Perhaps she will then also have occasion to read the enabling legislation for the park, which mandates interagency cooperation within the National Recreation Area – and consider how Malibu’s cooperation might work for the benefit of all.
Sarah Dixon