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"DREAM"
Toward a National
Seashore
by Nathan Post
Romance is the greatest asset of California. It has been for more than 350 years. To all this centuried romance, Santa Barbara is legitimate and favorite heiress ... about the only one left that has not yet traded away her birthright.
You hold the last of that California which has shone for centuries in song and story, which has fascinated the world and put a new sentiment and beauty in American life.Charles F. Lummis
Santa Barbara Morning Press, 1923
What will the Southern California Coast be like fifty years from now? Will coastal farms and scenic open space exist? Will our precious coastal resources be there for us to enjoy? Will we be able to swim and play in unspoiled natural environments? Will sea life be healthy and abundant? Will rare native birds spread their wings over sand and sea? Will there be any place left for Californians to go and really get away from it all? I don't think it is any secret that the California that you and I know and love is in danger of being lost forever. The hills, the valleys, the mountains and open spaces of Santa Barbara County are threatened as never before in our history. Gentle ocean bluffs, rustling grasslands, and silent wetlands call out to those with the ears to listen. Gentle breezes reawaken distant memories of places we know, places that exist in the recesses of our minds. Are we willing to respond to that call? Is our precious heritage worthy of our patronage and support?
The Santa Barbara coastline is a scenic and natural treasure supporting hundreds of species of birds, unique plant and animal life. Miles of unspoiled coastline, spreading north and west of our city, support colonies of harbor seals, California Sea Lions, Northern Elephant Seals. It is home to snowy egrets, great blue heron, blue-gray gnatcatchers, snowy plovers and red-tailed hawks. Aggregation sites for Monarch Butterflies dot the landscape. Coastal Sage Scrub, considered an endangered plant community in Southern California, is relatively common here. Here too are the California Slender Salamander, the Red-Legged Frog, the Western Fence Lizard, and Ringtail. Observed residents include the mountain lion, bobcat, gray fox, coyote, brush rabbit, striped skunk, and deer.
It is also a spiritual land, a place holding special meaning for the lone hiker, and independent surfer and indigenous Native American. The Santa Barbara County coast is a very special place, offering a unique legacy, and a rich natural heritage. With it's increasingly rare habitats, singular beauty, and unparalleled potential for environmentally sensitive, coastal dependent recreation I feel that it is a place worth saving. In the face of mounting threats to our natural environment, several ideas for saving the relatively undeveloped portion of the Santa Barbara County Coastline have been advanced. These include expanding the boundaries of the adjacent Los Padres National Forest to include the foothills and coastal plain, or adding the Gaviota Coast to the Channel Islands National Park.
On September 13, 1962 President Kennedy signed a bill creating a National Seashore at Point Reyes, Calif. The President told delegations from Congress and the Interior Department that the legislation would preserve the outstanding recreational character of the area, and that the measure indicated the increased importance of prompt action to preserve the nations' scenic areas. With pressure to develop our diminishing coastal resources growing, President Kennedy's words are as true today as they were when they were first uttered in 1962. President Kennedy and the citizens of Marin County knew that population and development pressures would soon cause Point Reyes to be engulfed by subdivisions if swift action weren't taken.
A growing number of Santa Barbara County residents see the need to act in order to save the Gaviota Coast from growing development pressures. Many community members see the creation of a National Seashore as the best way to protect Santa Barbara County's threatened Coast. Responding to that threat, the Gaviota Coast Conservancy was incorporated as a non-profit in April of 1996 for the purpose of protecting all of the resources on the Gaviota Coast. The vision of the Gaviota Coast Conservancy is the permanent protection of the Gaviota coast for its unique natural, scenic, agricultural, recreational and cultural resources. The Conservancy is currently working to save undeveloped shoreline parcels between Coal Oil Point and Vandenberg Air Force Base. As part of that effort, the Conservancy has created an "Outreach Committee". The "Outreach Committee" is responsible for raising public awareness of efforts to preserve the Gaviota Coast, and will work to encourage and coordinate public participation in the effort to save the coast.
While a National Seashore is not the only means of saving the coast, it is one idea that seems to have withstood the test of time. It is also an idea that appears to hold the greatest promise. There are currently 10 federally administered coastal parks (National Seashores) dotting the American coast. Seven of these are located on the Atlantic. Two border the Gulf of Mexico, and one, Point Reyes, borders the Pacific north of San Francisco. Consider for a moment that no National Seashores exist in Central or Southern California.
One of the benefits of a National Seashore is that it will allow private property ownership and private agricultural enterprises to flourish. Agricultural enterprises thrive at the Point Reyes National Seashore. National Seashores also prevent property values and taxes from escalating which in turn acts to discourage speculation and resultant urban sprawl. In order to create a National Seashore, a feasibility and suitability study must be conducted by the National Park Service for which an appropriation must be approved by Congress. If, following the study, it is determined that the land in question meets the criteria for designation as a National Seashore, then a proposal may be brought to congress.
Creation of a National Seashore would benefit Santa Barbara County in a number of ways. Not only would a National Seashore protect the coastal environment and wildlife habitats of Santa Barbara County's threatened coast, but it would increase recreational opportunities and beach access for County residents and visitors alike. A National Seashore would provide substantial economic benefits for the community as well, particularly for all tourism dependent businesses, and would create an easily identifiable destination for visitors to California.
According to Mrs. William M. Eastman, former vice-president of the Point Reyes National Seashore Foundation, "An economic study of the Point Reyes proposal, as well as experience with other similar parks, indicates that taxes paid by private commercial activities serving visitors to the recreation area would more than compensate for the loss of taxes due to removal of land from the tax rolls." In an article entitled, "The Value of Nature and Scenery", by Elizabeth Brabec and Kevin Kirby, the authors note that, "Tourism accounts for 6 to 7 percent of the Gross National Product of the United States. …In 1991, an estimated $64 billion dollars was earned in the United Stated from foreign visitors. …In California nearly $4.5 billion of personal income for employees and business owners was earned in 1988 from spending for visiting parks and outdoor recreation areas." According to the National Park Service, "In 1993, 273 million visits to our national parks created over $10 billion in direct and indirect expenditures within parks and surrounding communities. These expenditures generated over 200,000 jobs. ... For Fiscal Year 1993 the National Park Service's operating budget was an estimated $1 billion, while visitor expenditures totaled over $10 billion, thereby giving the American taxpayers a 10-1 return on their investment in our national parks."
Point Reyes National Seashore draws over 2.5 million visitors a year. A National Seashore on the Gaviota Coast could attract thousands of visitors each year. These visitors will need a place to sleep, eat, camp and shop. They will, of necessity, seek out required goods and services County wide. Not only would increased tourism generate additional County revenues, but the use of federal funds for resource protection would bring tax money back to our area. A National Seashore would make Santa Barbara County attractive to high tech businesses interested in recruiting and retaining qualified employees. Clearly, a National Seashore is good for business.
Support for the creation of a National Seashore on the Gaviota Coast is growing. Since efforts to preserve the coast were initiated, the Gaviota Coast Conservancy has received impressive endorsements for a study to determine the feasibility and suitability of a Federal designation for the Gaviota Coast. As a result, a feasibility study is now being conducted and should be completed within 2 years. Among those supporting a feasibility and suitability study are Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer, Congresswoman Lois Capps, State Senator Jack O'Connell, and State Assemblywoman Hannah Beth Jackson. The Conservancy effort has also received a unanimous vote of support from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and the Santa Barbara City Council. In order for the effort to succeed, broad-based public support for the effort is critical. The Gaviota Coast represents the last significant stretch of relatively undeveloped, unprotected coastal land of this magnitude remaining in Southern California. The question is not 'should we save the coast' rather it is a question of how we ought to go about saving it. As Bob Keats, founder of the Gaviota Coast Conservancy, has said, "Not only should we save it, it is our duty to save it."
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