National Forest proposal During the first decade of the twentieth century,
Frederick H. Rindge attempted to create a forest reserve (precursors to
national forests) in the
Santa Monica Mountains several times. In 1902, California's State Mining Bureau also attempted to establish a forest reserve, but their proposal was denied. In 1907, a proposal requesting at least in the Santa Monica Mountains be designated a forest reserve was submitted to the
Secretary of the Interior, but state mineralogist
Lewis E. Aubury opposed the venture. The
U. S. Forest Service then advised Aubury that it was highly improbable a forest reserve would be created owing to local opposition and the small amount of public land still remaining in the mountains.
Alphonzo Bell Sr. led the push for development, while local opposition was led by
Sylvia Morrison. After much criticism of Bell's original plan, Bell submitted an updated plan that saw the limestone pulverized, mixed with water, and pumped via a buried pipeline to the mouth of Santa Ynez Canyon, where it would continue along the ocean floor to an offshore buoy.
Will Rogers parodied the plan on the front page of the
Los Angeles Times, after which
William Mulholland came to Bell's defense. Around the same time, Morrison urged to establish the Santa Monica Mountains as Whitestone National Park, named after the limestone cliffs. In 1930, lifelong national park advocate
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. proposed a network of parks, beaches, playgrounds, and forests to promote social, economic, and environmental vitality in Los Angeles, and he also advocated for public ownership of at least of beach and mountain between
Topanga and
Point Dume. His report, however, was not successful. but the county refused her offer. species that Toyon National Park would have been named after In the 1960s and 70s, possibly even as early of the 1950s, several proposals designating the Santa Monica Mountains as
Toyon National Park went before
U.S. Congress, and in 1971, Representative
Alphonzo Bell Jr. introduced the first a bill to create Toyon National Park.
State Parks In 1944,
Will Rogers State Historic Park was created, marking the first state park in the Santa Monica Mountains and the first public land in the mountains since
Griffith Park in 1896. In 1967, the
State Division of Beaches and Parks acquired of the Broome Ranch (originally part of
Rancho Guadalasca) for $15.1 million , which they used to establish
Point Mugu State Park. In 1972, the park system purchased for $2.1 million , nearly doubling the park's size. In 1980, a remaining that adjoined the property was purchased, becoming
Rancho Sierra Vista open space park. In 1974, the
Topanga State Park (originally Topanga Canyon State Park) was opened to the public. The park encompass large areas outside
Topanga Canyon, from
Pacific Coast Highway to
Mulholland Drive.
Establishment of the National Recreation Area In 1964,
Susan B. Nelson, later known as the mother of the Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area, helped organize Friends of the Santa Monica Mountains, Parks and Seashore. The SMMNRA was established on November 10, 1978, with a strategy of growing the park through "mosaic pieces" that would link critical habitats, save unique areas, and expand the existing park. in the SMMNRA In the 1980s, the
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy was created to acquire and preserve land for open spaces,
habitat preserves, and public recreation. One of their first acquisitions was
Rancho Sierra Vista in 1980, and
Paramount Ranch was also acquired that year. In the early 1990s,
Bob Hope created controversy when he proposed selling of land in the Corral Canyon area to the government in exchange for in the nearby Cheeseboro Canyon section of the SMMNRA, land he planned to use for access road to a new golf course and housing development. The land swap was never completed, with the Jordan Ranch becoming the Palo Commado section of the Cheeseboro Canyon/Palo Comado Canyon Open Space parks and most of the land for the Corral Canyon Park later donated by Hope. In 2003,
Ahmanson Ranch was acquired by the
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to create the
Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve. In 2010, of land northwest of the
U.S. 101/
Las Virgenes Road junction, as well as additional land to the southeast of Las Virgenes Road, were acquired by the Santa Monica Mountain Conservancy. Additionally, several hills with undeveloped ranch land in the area also had their
viewsheds protected from development, and these areas now serve as an unofficial gateway to the SMMNRA and its visitor center on Las Virgenes Road at
King Gillette Ranch. In 2018, the
Woolsey Fire burned 88% of the federal parkland and more than 40% of the natural area in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Park superintendents • Robert Chandler, 1979–1982 • Daniel Kuehn, 1983–1988 • William Webb (Acting Superintendent), 1988–1989 • David Gackenbach, 1989–1995 • Arthur Eck, 1995–2002 • Woody Smeck, 2002–2012 • David Szymanski, 2012–2024 • Jody Lyle, 2024–present ==Studies==