Susan B. Nelson’s Fight for Santa Monica Mountains
Susan Nelson was just a mom with four kids when she saw bulldozers coming for the Santa Monica Mountains in 1964. Developers wanted golf courses where canyons stood.
Roads would slice through hills. So this Syracuse-born housewife fought back.
She founded Friends of the Santa Monica Mountains and spent 14 years building a movement. Nelson got a UCLA degree, teamed up with other “Mothers of the Mountains,” and won over key politicians.
In the end, Congressman Phil Burton drew park boundaries with a marker, and President Carter made it official in 1978. Today, you can explore America’s first urban national park because one woman said no.
A Syracuse Housewife Started a Revolution in the Mountains
Susan Barr Nelson changed from regular mom to nature fighter in 1964 when builders wanted to wreck the Malibu hills.
Born in Syracuse in 1927, she moved to California as a kid and settled in Mandeville Canyon with her four children. Plans for landfills and golf courses in beautiful canyons made Nelson take action.
She started Friends of the Santa Monica Mountains, Parks and Seashore at her kitchen table. Her small group grew into the main force stopping mountains from being bulldozed.
Back to School at 42 to Fight City Hall
Most 1960s housewives didn’t go back to college, but Nelson knew she needed more tools to win. She got her master’s in public administration from UCLA in 1969, learning what she needed for the tough fights ahead.
She began teaching about saving nature at Southern California colleges in the 1970s. Her schooling turned her into more than just an angry neighbor.
Her political knowledge helped her deal with the many government offices between her and saving the mountains.
Four Massive Freeways Nearly Sliced Through Paradise
Nelson spent the 1970s fighting road planners who wanted highways cutting through untouched mountain areas.
She got neighbors together to stop the Malibu Canyon Freeway, Pacific Coast Freeway, Mulholland Highway growth, and Reseda Boulevard Extension.
These huge concrete roads would have forever changed the mountains.
Nelson showed her growing talent by bringing together nature groups and homeowner groups to speak as one team.
Three Moms Became the Mountains’ Fiercest Defenders
Nelson got stronger when she teamed up with two other determined women.
Margot Feuer brought Sierra Club connections, while Jill Swift was great at bringing new people into the fight.
Locals called them the “Mothers of the Mountains” as they mixed Nelson’s planning skills, Feuer’s political friends, and Swift’s community reach.
They came from different areas within the mountains, creating wider support.
Though they sometimes disagreed on how to fight, they stayed united against builders who wanted to carve up their mountains.
Her Lobbying Style: Feisty, Ruthless and Effective
Friends said Nelson could “explode” when needed but stayed “warmhearted” with allies. She built ties with key politicians in Sacramento and Washington through constant pushing.
She became known for her strong talks before government committees and for setting up meetings that brought attention to the mountains. Nelson mixed fired-up speeches with practical political know-how.
She knew when to push hard and when to meet halfway, making her someone politicians couldn’t easily brush off.
Freshman Congressman Became Her Powerful Ally
The fight picked up speed in 1977 when Nelson started working with newly elected Representative Anthony Beilenson from Woodland Hills.
Beilenson later called Nelson “the single greatest private force” behind creating the park. Their team matched her street-level organizing with his lawmaking skills.
Together they wrote a bill for a national recreation area despite strong pushback from building companies. Nelson knew the mountains inside out while Beilenson knew how to move through Congress.
One Lost Vote Changed Everything
Sometimes losing opens new doors. Representative Phil Burton of San Francisco lost his try for House Majority Leader by just one vote in 1976, crushing his career hopes.
Burton bounced back by focusing on his job as Chairman of the House subcommittee on National Parks. He put together a huge parks bill with projects across many states.
His plan created a package where every representative got something for their area. This “park barrel bill” became the perfect way to include the Santa Monica Mountains plan.
The Bill Everyone Wanted a Piece Of
Beilenson worked with Representatives Barry Goldwater Jr. and Robert Lagomarsino to write the Santa Monica Mountains part of Burton’s big bill.
The plan worked perfectly. By including parks across America, the bill created a team where members backed the whole package to get their local projects.
Politicians noted during talks that “there’s something in this bill for every state and every congressional district.” This approach beat the usual pushback against new parks.
What might have failed alone worked as part of a nationwide package.
A Marker Pen Drew the Future of Los Angeles
The actual edges of the park came from a tense meeting where different visions clashed.
The National Park Service, Nelson’s group, and the Santa Monica Mountains Planning Commission all brought different maps showing their wanted boundaries. Arguments broke out over which areas to include.
Tired of the fighting, Burton grabbed a marker and drew a line combining “the exterior boundary of everybody’s map.” His quick fix gave everyone what they wanted while adding even more land.
That marker line became the 153,075-acre boundary that exists today.
Jimmy Carter’s Signature Capped a 14-Year Fight
Victory finally came on November 10, 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed legislation establishing the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Margot Feuer got the call from Washington and rushed to tell fellow activists who had devoted over a decade to the cause.
The world’s largest urban national park now stretched from the Hollywood Hills to Point Mugu in Ventura County.
Nelson’s 14-year grassroots campaign had succeeded against powerful developers, transportation planners, and skeptical politicians who thought a housewife couldn’t possibly win.
The Real Work Started After the Victory Party
Creating the park turned out to be just the beginning of a longer struggle.
The new recreation area immediately faced funding challenges, continued developer pressure, and coordination problems between agencies.
Nelson served on the park’s advisory commission for ten years, protecting it from budget cuts and harmful development.
The complex ownership structure within the boundary required ongoing land acquisition and cooperation between federal, state, and local governments.
Nelson’s persistence showed that citizen activism could create lasting change, even when the celebration faded and the hard work of implementation began.
Visiting Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area at 26876 Mulholland Highway in Calabasas tells the story of Susan B. Nelson’s 14-year fight to create America’s first urban national park.
This Syracuse-born housewife organized citizen groups to stop freeway development in the 1970s. The visitor center is open daily 9am to 5pm with free admission and 2-hour parking.
Watch the park film in the small theater and browse guidebooks at the bookstore.
This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.
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