Conservationists create a vast home on the eco-range for wildlife north of LA
TEHACHAPI, Calif. — When Zachary Principe wants to introduce people to one of his favorite vistas, he takes them to the top of Bear Mountain, a sky island in the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles where California condors roost in the boughs of sugar pines.
The mountaintop 6,805 feet above sea level is a refuge for mountain lions, mule deer and bobcats and is only about a two-hour drive from 18 million people in Southern California. "But it's off-limits to development," said Principe, project manager for the nonprofit Nature Conservancy, "because we bought the place."
Bear Mountain is among the latest additions to the conservancy's new Frank and Joan Randall Tehachapi Preserve, which consists of nine working
