Edmiston Says Illegal Use of Malibu Parkland by Paragliders Will Be Cited

• SMMC Executive Director Sends Emails to Promoter and Club Officer about Local Launch Sites

BY ANNE SOBLE

In the wake of two paragliding accidents in a month, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston has informed a promoter of the growing sport that his commercial paraglider activities on SMMC/Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority holdings are not authorized.
Edmiston told the Malibu Surfside News this week, “A paraglider would need a specific permit to launch or land on SMMC property (except, of course, in an emergency). We have issued no such permits, and would be very careful before we would issue one.”
In the first formal action in response to last month’s paraglider accident at Malibu Bluffs Park that sparked a small brushfire and a fatal crash in Corral Canyon two weeks ago, Edmiston sent an email to Claude Fiset on Aug. 13, that “neither you nor your organization, nor any other person or entity has take-off or landing rights on any property of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy or of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.”
Edmiston also emailed the president of the Malibu Paragliding Club, which has a Los Angeles mailing address, that it must cease referring to Malibu Bluffs Park and Corral Canyon as the club’s ”insured and regulated” sites, and requested “unless and until a permit is issued, please remove all references to any property of the SMMC or MRCA from your web site and any other promotional or informational material.”
Edmiston told MPC president Jai Pal Khalsa, “Also on that site is a photo of paragliders using a spot, apparently on the Bluffs Park, where vegetation has been removed to make for a landing/ takeoff zone. Damaging the vegetation on property of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy or that of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is a misdemeanor.”
The SMMC executive director subsequently told The News that an acre or more of vegetation in the center of Bluffs Park “has been scoured,” adding, “This is a misdemeanor violation of the Public Resources Code, and if we find out who did it, we will prosecute.”
Reiterating statements made to Fiset, Edmiston told the MPC president, “Neither you, nor your club, nor any other organization or individual has the permission of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy or the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority to take off, land, or otherwise operate a paraglider, ultralight aircraft or any other similar craft. This applies to the state property at Malibu Bluffs Park, Corral Canyon, and all other property of the SMMC or MRCA.”
He told Khalsa, the group may apply for a permit through the chief ranger of the MRCA, and “as with any special use, the questions of public safety, environmental impact, and effect upon other park visitors will be thoroughly evaluated. And in the case of this and any other extreme sport, liability will be a prime consideration in deciding whether or not to issue a permit.”
In the email to Fiset, who reportedly conducts a highly successful commercial venture involving paragliding lessons and tandem rides, Edmiston said use rights only exist “pursuant to my explicit permission, in writing, and filed in the offices of the Conservancy and the Authority.”
In addition, the SMMC executive director told Fiset, “We note persistent media reports that [quote you stating that] you and/or your organization, the “Malibu Paraglider” web site, have some understanding or agreement with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy with respect to take-off and landing on Malibu Bluffs. There is no such agreement, and you know it.”
Edmiston added, “Nor is there any agreement with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, which both owns parkland in Malibu and administers that of the Conservancy.”
In a subsequent email to The News, Edmiston said, “Now that Fiset has been warned, the instructions are to cite.” He said the rangers will “enforce the rules on our parkland, and I doubt that [Fiset] will risk violating [them].”
Fiset did not respond to a request from The News for comment on the SMMC communication in time for this week’s issue.
Several attempts were made by telephone and email to contact Khalsa for a response. In an email on Monday, he indicated that, due to a death in his family, he was unable to address The News’ numerous questions about the club’s relationship to Fiset’s operations, or the group’s arrangements to use public or private land as paraglider launch and landing sites.
Khalsa sent The News an email that appears to try to dissociate the club from Fiset’s commercial venture. He said MPC, which he described as a “California non-profit corporation [is] not affiliated with any school operations or commercial operations,” however, the MPC home page has a prominent link labeled “Malibu Paraglider School” that goes to Fiset’s instruction web site.
In addition, club “rules” name Fiset as the chief guide/instructor for use of club sites and establish fees to be paid to him or a designee for specific services.
Khalsa also told The News that the reference to Jonathan Langbehn, the man killed on Aug. 8, as a Malibu Paragliding Club member was inaccurate, stating, “I never knew or met him,” and he added that Langbehn was flying a non-motorized craft, which differs with earlier reports on the crash.
Both Fiset and Khalsa have indicated a belief that Langbehn might have suffered a heart attack, but Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office told The News that he died from “blunt force injuries” when he crashed into the hillside.
Khalsa has not yet responded to the inquiry that the club web site gives the impression that only MPC members were allowed to launch from “club sites,” which reportedly may have been done by Langbehn, or whether Fiset also used these sites for his private students.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has still not formally addressed whether land that it owns in Corral Canyon was used as the launch site in the fatal accident. Residents in Corral Canyon say they have repeatedly taken their concerns about paraglider activities to the DWP, but no action appears to have been taken.