Wildlife Sanctuary Fined for Altering Stream in Construction

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST —  The Wildlife Waystation, a 160-acre sanctuary for exotic animals, has pleaded guilty to an environmental violation stemming from construction of a future primate center and has been ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution to a state Fish and Game fund.

The Waystation pleaded guilty in January to one count of illegal alteration of a stream bed after a bulldozer crew eliminated a stream on the property in an effort to build a road, authorities said.

Dismissed as part of a plea agreement was a charge of water pollution, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Francesca Frey. State Fish and Game officials alleged the facility poured chlorine into the stream to make the water safe for animals and people to drink.

State Game Warden Jon Willcox said someone from the Waystation made an anonymous call to his department last April reporting that a bulldozer had created a road in the middle of a stream, destroying about 200 yards of natural habitat on the property about five miles northeast of Lake View Terrace.

Fish and Game officials then filed a complaint with the environmental crimes branch of the county district attorney’s office.

In February, the Wildlife Waystation was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, which will help pay for investigating other environmental violations, Willcox said. It was also sentenced to 36 months of probation.

Willcox said that despite the damage, the stream will eventually replenish itself.

“It will recover if it doesn’t get disturbed,” Willcox said. “The water will cleanse itself of the silt, and the vegetation will regrow. It will become a drawing attraction for wildlife, but that does take time.”

Martine Colette, director and founder of the Wildlife Waystation, said a bulldozer crew was clearing a path to reach what they hope will eventually be the station’s hilltop primate center.

“Without us knowing, the bulldozer people dropped some soil into the canyon and I didn’t know, nobody really knew it was an issue,” Colette said. “It was unintentional, it wasn’t anyone from the station that did it, it was a completely unrelated contractor.”

Construction of the primate center, which was funded by two private donors and was originally scheduled to open last spring, was halted when it was discovered last year that the large compound occupies about 2 acres of U.S. Forest Service land.

The compound is being built specifically for “retired” chimps, such as those used in medical research labs, Colette said, and includes a 7,000-square-foot enclosed building as well as several open “play yards.” It will be able to accommodate up to 100 chimps.

The Forest Service is expected to sell the land to the Wildlife Waystation, Colette said, who added she is waiting for the Forest Service to determine a price for the land.