Tejon Ranch

The Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE: TRC), based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. (The federally gifted lands still held by the Catellus Corporation, a successor to the Southern Pacific Land Company, are much more extensive.) The Company was incorporated in 1936 to organise the ownership of a large tract of land originally comprising four Mexican land grants, and began ranching in the 1840s. It now controls over 270,000 acres (1,093 km2) in the southern San Joaquin Valley, Tehachapi Mountains, and Antelope Valley. Tejon Ranch grows almonds, pistachios, walnuts, wine grapes, and several varieties of row crops. Depending on the season, up to 12,000 head of cattle can be found grazing on the ranch. Cattle leases cover about 250,000 acres (1,012 km2).

Tejon Ranch Company headquarters, with some of the ranch disappearing into the cloud behind. This will be the site of Tejon Mountain Village. Note trademarked cattle brand.

History

In 1843, the Mexican government made grants for the land that became three ranches: the 26,626-acre (107.75 km2) Rancho Los Alamos y Agua Caliente; the 97,617-acre (395.04 km2) Rancho El Tejon; and the 22,178-acre (89.75 km2) Rancho Castac. A fourth tract, the 48,800-acre (197 km2) Rancho La Liebre, was granted in 1846.

At the urging of Edward Beale, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California, the Sebastian Indian Reservation was established in 1853 on Rancho El Tejon, and Fort Tejon was established by the U.S. Army in 1854 on Rancho Castac. These were federal projects, consisting of major developments and improvements, on what was the Mexican grantees' private land.

In 1855, Edward Beale purchased Rancho La Liebre. The Army abandoned Fort Tejon in 1864. Beale bought Rancho El Tejon and Rancho de los Alamos y Agua Caliente in 1865, and Rancho Castac in 1866. With the purchase of these four Mexican land grants, Beale created the present day Tejon Ranch.[1]

Beale's son, Truxtun Beale, sold the Tejon Ranch in 1912 to a syndicate of investors headed by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler and land developer Moses Sherman. Both had extensive holdings in the San Fernando Valley. In 1917, some surviving Kitanemuk Indians lived on Tejon Ranch.[2]

In 1936, the Tejon Ranch Company became a public company, with the Chandler–Sherman group retaining a controlling interest. The Chandlers' Times Mirror Company sold its stake in 1997.[3]

Hunting

In 2012, the ranch suspended all hunting, following a 2011 California Department of Fish and Game investigation into the illegal killing of mountain lions. The investigation was initiated by a whistleblower who filed a lawsuit.[4]

Tejon Ranch Company

Tejon Ranch is the largest private landholding in California, and today is owned by Tejon Ranch Company, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.[5]

Its principal activity is land development and agribusiness, increasing the value of real estate and resource holding on this land. The company operates in four segments of the economy:

Future of the ranch

Conservation and land-use agreement

A large number of California native plants occur on as yet undisturbed land owned by Tejon Ranch. It is situated at a section of the state where several ecoregions meet and overlap: the Mojave Desert, the Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada, and the Transverse Ranges of Southern California.[6] The interaction of unique geography and varying climates has produced high biodiversity, as evidenced by showy spring wildflower blooms.[6]

Overlooking the eastern half of Tejon Ranch from the Tehachapi Crest. Frazier Mountain in the Los Padres National Forest is in the background.

An agreement between the Tejon Ranch Company and a coalition of environmental groups, announced in May 2008,[7] is designed to permanently protect 240,000 acres (970 km2) of the historic ranch. It is the largest conservation and land-use pact in California history.[8]

The agreement was finally reached to conclude 20 months of off-and-on negotiations, but only after a marathon three-day bargaining session in April 2008.[9] California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled to the ranch in May of that year to take part in the announcement,[10] but the signing of the agreement was done in private in June.

Highlights of the pact are:[7][10]

Future construction

Three development projects are in the pipeline for the Tejon Ranch Company.[7][12]

Tejon Mountain Village

The most extensive of these projects, Tejon Mountain Village is a proposed residential, commercial, and recreational development that has been a matter of heated debate for years in the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass. The development would include homes, commercial buildings, hotels, and golf courses.[13]

Centennial

Centennial is a proposed new town, or planned development, on the Tejon Ranch property.[14] The project is undergoing an internal review by the County of Los Angeles Department of Regional Planning.

Tejon Industrial Complex

Three large warehouses have been built by the Tejon Ranch Company as the first in what will be an industrial complex designed to compete with distribution centers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Foreign-made goods will be trucked in from California ports like Oakland and Los Angeles and stored until they are delivered to retailers. About a third of the park is expected to be declared a foreign trade zone, allowing importers to defer payment of U.S. customs duty.[12] The site also includes commercial use like restaurants, automobile service stations, and a large truck stop.

See also

References

External links

Coordinates: 35°01′31″N 118°44′47″W / 35.02528°N 118.74639°W / 35.02528; -118.74639

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