Open Space Legal Defense Fund

We Are Still in the Fight and We Need You.

The City of Whittier may be hoping we have been distracted and forgotten their obligations to protect open space. We have not forgotten and need your help to legally force the City to sign the Conservation Easement and restore the land. For more information, read the “History or How We Got Here” section at the end of this post.

Unfortunately, the City is still in breach of the Settlement Agreement with Open Space Legal Defense Fund (OSLDF). The City must honor the agreement by restoring the land and placing the Conservation Easement Deed on the entire property. This will prevent future oil drilling.

As a good-faith gesture, we entered a tolling agreement with the City several months ago that gave them time to meet their obligations without involving the court system. During the duration of the tolling agreement, the City has shown no willingness to meet their obligations. Over the past year and a half, we have repeatedly reminded the City of its obligations. In 2019, we regularly spoke at City Council meetings. In 2020, we met the new City Manager Brian Saeki to remind the City of its obligations. We followed up numerous times with emails and had our attorney do the same. The City has refused to take action, and the tolling agreement is about to end on October 16.

The lack of action by the City means we will need to take legal action and bring them into the courtroom once again. This will cost money; our best estimate is that we need to raise $10,000.

So today we are asking you once again to please donate what you can. OSLDF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and your gift is eligible for a tax deduction.

Please make your gift today and let your voice be heard. Will you consider one of the following amounts?
 $500  $250  $100  $50  Other $_________

Making your gift is easy.

Please mail your check (payable to Open Space Legal Defense Fund) to

Open Space Legal Defense Fund
13215 Penn Street, Suite 540
Whittier, CA 90602

Donate securely at OSLDF.org using your credit/debit card or PayPal.

Your donation will help us take the City to court to enforce the settlement agreement.

Thank you,
Open Space Legal Defense Fund Board

History or How We Got Here

Almost 25 years ago, the voters of Los Angeles County passed Proposition A. One outcome of Prop A was that the LA County taxpayers entrusted the City of Whittier to protect 1,756 acres of land designated as Significant Ecological Areas by LA County. This area was home to some of the last remaining chaparral, native oak woodlands, and coastal sage scrub in LA County.

The Whittier City Council ignored its responsibilities as a trustee of this irreplaceable asset and a decade ago sought to lease part of this protected area to Matrix Oil. Our community did not support this move. Several grassroots organizations, including the Whittier Hills Oil Watch (WHOW) and the Open Space Legal Defense Fund (OSLDF), responded by opposing the project.

OSLDF sued the City on several grounds to stop the project. In 2012, OSLDF settled its lawsuit with Matrix Oil, the City of Whittier, and Clayton Williams Energy. As part of the settlement, a Conservation Easement Deed was to be placed over 1,280 acres of the Whittier Puente Hills nature preserve in perpetuity once the project was over. The courts subsequently nullified the lease, and we all believed and hoped that the oil drilling project would not be implemented.

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The Fight is Not Over

We Are Still in the Fight and We Need You.