In response to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority’s Puerco Canyon Camp and Trailhead Project.
My name is Diane Hines and I’ve been a resident of Malibu for more than 30 years and a member of the Las Flores/Rambla Pacifico Homeowners Association. I have lived through two horrendous Malibu wildfires in both 1993 and 2007.
In 1993, all of the homes on Live Oak Meadows Road burned to the ground with the exception of mine and two neighbors. In 2007, Corral Canyon neighborhoods as well as our Presbyterian Church and Webster Elementary burnt out, sustaining considerable damage, including the art studio where I taught for 20 years. I have relished living among the chaparral and wildlife here in the canyons, and I welcome all those who also want to come enjoy this special place—but even more, I want to ensure that future generations also experience this small bit of wilderness so close to an urban center.
Trailheads and trails carefully considered can be fine but not overnight camping and campfires. That proposal is simply an ill-informed, reckless desire to show those “uppity” Malibu rich folk that the MCRA can override their selfish concerns. If the MCRA are “good stewards of the land” and not just another self-serving bureaucratic quasi-governmental agency, it will not proceed with this inane camping proposal!
Diane Hines