Soaring over the Santa Monicas

Those of you who have followed my blog and website know that I have a passionate love for and dedication to the Santa Monica Mountains. A new high definition aerial video of this beautiful part of our county is currently being created, and I’d like to share an early look at it with you.

Eventually, this spectacular footage will be on display for visitors who come to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Center from around the world. (See our story on the project here.) It will provide an incredible visual introduction to this unique natural resource, which combines spectacular mountains, seashore, canyons and wildlife. As this video clip shows, there are very few places in our nation that possess the Santa Monicas’ immense beauty and resource value in such close proximity to a metropolis the size of Los Angeles.

And the grandeur of the Santa Monica Mountains parks system is still growing. We’re continuing to add to it with our partners in the national and state parks service. While these are tough times for all of us, when once-in-a-lifetime acquisition opportunities such as the Ahmanson Ranch or the King Gillette properties pop up, we have to be ready to strike. Once we lose these lands to development, we lose them forever.

When you view this video, I think you will agree with me that we have something special and worth preserving in these rugged and majestic mountains, and we should do whatever we can to preserve them for future generations.

Enjoy the flight!

Posted 9/21/10