PC: Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times
Residents of Wrightwood, California, are opposing a proposed open-pit quarry in Lone Pine Canyon after learning that the project had received a key county approval in 2019. A quarry planned on a 420-acre site involves extracting ultra-high-purity calcium carbonate by blasting down about 1,600 feet across open pits. County attorneys responded in a letter that an appeal should have been filed within 90 days.
Because mining had not taken place on the property for years before 1976, their attorney, Henry Josefberg, said the application should not have been approved. He also argued that residents received inadequate notice of the hearings.
Many residents said they were unaware of the decision until a community meeting in April 2026 brought the proposal to wider attention. More than 7,600 people have signed a petition calling for a full environmental review, according to the Los Angeles Times. A nonprofit formed by residents has also petitioned for the county to reconsider the approval, while state wildlife officials have raised concerns about possible effects on wildlife in the area.
How could wildlife concerns affect the Wrightwood quarry’s future
The proposed quarry would be located on a 420-acre site in Lone Pine Canyon, about four miles outside Wrightwood. The site is intended for the extraction of ultra-high purity calcium carbonate, with blasting expected to cut down about 1,600 feet across open pits. In 2019, the San Bernardino County Planning Commission voted 3 to 2 to grant the project ‘vested rights’, exempting it from a comprehensive environmental review. Residents say they did not know about the approval until a resident shared information on Facebook and a community meeting was arranged in April 2026. The nonprofit has petitioned for reconsideration of the Planning Commission’s 2019 decision. The project was sold in 2023 to Grand Lone Pine Canyon Enterprises LLC, a West Covina company whose members include Treiss International Corp. Carlsbad-based California Carbonates Inc. would conduct the mining, with operations expected to continue until at least 2175.
The reclamation plan was due to go before the Planning Commission on 6 August, but the quarry owner requested a postponement. San Bernardino County has not announced a new date.
It said the county had not provided evidence that the quarry owner’s reclamation plan would avoid substantially interfering with animals’ movement. The decision followed two hearings that attracted little public attention. Only one member of the public spoke out. The commission’s five members are appointed by San Bernardino County supervisors. After the April meeting, residents formed the Lone Pine Canyon Protection Alliance and began campaigning against the quarry. In July, the alliance and three residents, including Michele Falb, filed a court petition asking the county to reconsider the grant of vested mining rights. A quarry with vested rights must still undergo a review of its reclamation plan, which sets out how the land will be restored after mining ends. County officials proposed an abbreviated form of that review this spring.
