By ALISHA SEMCHUCK
Valley Press Staff Writer

After intense review by attorneys from each side, a final version of those documents is expected to be signed off on Friday, said Sierra Club member Jim Dodson, who has been involved in the negotiations.

Speaking Monday night to roughly 20 members of the Antelope Valley Group of the Sierra Club, Dodson described terms of the agreement, which was prompted by Tejon Ranch's proposed 23,000-home Centennial master-plan community in the far western Antelope Valley and the smaller Tejon Mountain Ranch development in the Tehachapi Mountains.

"There's two aspects: What does the deal look like? How did we get to a deal?" Dodson told the group.

Initially, a public trust that formed several years ago to preserve some acreage "fell apart," Dodson said.

Then representatives from the Sierra Club, Audubon California, the Endangered Habitats League, the Planning and Conservation League and the Natural Resources Defense Council entered into talks with decision-makers from Tejon Ranch, a New York Stock Exchange-listed agricultural and development firm that owns 270,000 acres in the Tehachapi Mountains, Antelope Valley and San Joaquin Valley.

Environmentalists told the corporate leaders "what they really wanted," Dodson said. "I got involved after this was under way . As we went forward, the ranch (negotiators) wanted immediate economic return."

The ranch negotiators relinquished long-term economic gains in order to move ahead with their plans, Dodson said.

Even a 50-50 agreement preserving half the land while letting the other half develop would have been a good deal, Dodson said.

"This is about 88(%)-12(%)," Dodson said.

In other words, Tejon Ranch agreed to let 240,000 of those 270,000 be preserved for hiking and camping and as a wildlife preserve, with homes and businesses to be built on the remainder.

"We are still finalizing the paperwork," Dodson said, describing an announcement in early May about a "deal struck" between the company and environmental groups as "a deal struck in concept. The team who did the negotiating was really good. It's a pretty good deal. I'm happy with it."

Yet, Dodson pointed out, "it's not something the Sierra Club on its own would have supported."

Among concessions to which environmentalists had to agree was refraining from opposing developers' environmental impact reports in public forums about Centennial and Tejon Mountain Ranch projects. The Sierra Club, Audubon California, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Endangered Habitats League, and the Planning and Conservation League "must sit by in silence," he said.

"The only thing that makes this worthwhile is the 240,000 acres that won't be developed," Dodson said.

Although the five major environmental groups agreed to the non-opposition clause, Dodson said other groups will oppose the project. He said those groups are planning litigation to block development and a media campaign to make their stance known.

A group of 11 condor biologists and researchers on June 7 sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other government officials emphasizing their resistance to the proposed projects.

In their letter, these scientists criticized the agreement, saying the five environmental organizations "neglected to mention that … Tejon Mountain Village would place thousands of dwellings in the heart of officially designated critical habitat for the endangered California condor."

"As former and present participants in the condor conservation program, we are firmly opposed to any development proposals for condor critical habitat, and we know of no evidence to support claims that the recent agreement is generally endorsed by condor experts."

However, Dodson said he met with three well-known and respected condor experts who believe the agreement "will enhance condor habitat."

The agreement does not hand over title of the property to the Sierra Club, Audubon California and the other environmental organizations. Instead, it gives them the right to develop the site for public use on land that remains owned by the company.

Activities such as cattle grazing, filming for television and movies, farming, sand and gravel mining and oil extraction will continue in existing permitted areas, he said, and a new 600-acre sand and gravel mining site will be developed in the White Wolf area.

"Limestone extraction will continue. The extractors have a solid lease," Dodson said.

Despite the agreement, Dodson said some Sierra Club members have asked whether they can support the opposition.

They have that right as individuals, he said, but cannot claim their view represents the Sierra Club.

Dodson considers the agreement the best deal the environmentalists could reach given the fact that the owners have the right to develop their property.

He viewed it as give-and-take on both sides.

"We wanted certainty that we had a deal that would protect the property," Dodson said.

"Their certainty is that they would not hit environmental buzz saws."

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