LAND TRUST ACQUIRES 260 ACRES on CAJON RIDGE

Cajon Ridge, where SBMLT recently bought 260 acres, adding to 110 acres already owned. (San Gabriel Mountains in background

Progress on Cajon Ridge Project

December 2010 the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust (SBMLT) completed an acquisition of two adjacent properties totaling 260 acres on Cajon Ridge in the San Bernardino National Forest.

            Bill Engs, President of the Land Trust, noted in a SBMLT press release that “These two properties, along with 110 acres on the same ridge by Sugarpine Mountain (acquired by the Land Trust in 2008), are key additions to the Land Trust’s mission of protecting critical forest open space and wildlife habitat in the National Forest.”

            Located on the ridge top east of the Cajon Pass, the two properties are about 3.5 miles southwest of Lake Silverwood.  The property is accessed by Forest Service Road 2N49, a primitive dirt road that winds through the area from Silverwood Lake to Cedar Pines Park.

Site of Fire Lookout Tower

            Cajon Mountain is the site of a former Forest Service lookout tower, which may someday be restored.  Access to the site goes through the Land Trust property.

            For at least ten years these lands have been on the Land Trust’s watch list of important acquisition priorities.  Our primary goal is to acquire private land inholdings in the local National Forest that help safeguard wildlife, protect significant mountain ecosystems, and improve the overall management integrity of these public lands.

            Inholdings are privately-owned lands that are inside the boundary of a public land unit, such as a National Park or Forest –in this case, our local forest.  They often are completely surrounded by public lands.  In our forest they are generally subject to county jurisdiction instead of Forest Service oversight.

Cajon Pass Wildlife Linkage

SBMLT has been working to purchase wildlife open space parcels along Cajon Ridge, which are in unprotected private ownership.  These lands are part of a critical wildlife travel route.

   Cajon Ridge descends to Cleghorn Creek, which provides the primary wildlife linkage between the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernardino Mountains.  The creek flows under a large overpass of the Interstate 15 Freeway, at an area that was in private ownership until recently acquired by the Wildlands Conservancy.

Map of 3 SBMLT Parcels between Cajon Mtn & Sugarpine Mtn