In Chumash spiritual tradition, this gate is revered as the “Western Gate,” the gateway for the souls of the dead to enter paradise.
To ship captains, this place is known as the terrifying “Cape Horn of the Pacific,” an area where many ships have been lost to powerful gales.
And for Vandenberg Space Force Base, it’s the perfect isolated launch pad for spacecraft.
The rugged and breathtaking beauty of Point Conception and the wider Gaviota Coast has captivated people for thousands of years. Now, new conservation and research efforts are expected to restore this area of rolling hills, meandering oak trees, brackish lakes and shale cliffs overlooking wind-swept beaches to its original state. I am.
Most recently, conservationists said the federal government had removed a 56-year-old rock that was preventing endangered Southern California steelhead from reaching their ancient spawning grounds in the highlands of Point Conception. The mortar dam was demolished. The removal of the dam this month reopens a vital link to the survival of an endangered species.
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“We are transforming a large portion of Point Conception into a platform for conservation, research and ecosystem restoration projects,” said Nature, which purchased 24,329 acres of land in the area from New England Investments in 2017. Mark Reynolds, chief scientist at the Conservancy, said: We will protect it from development. “Our findings offer a glimpse into the future of California’s coast.”
“The past of these places is fascinating, but we still have much to learn about the plants, animals, insects and other life on land and offshore, and how they depend on each other. There are a lot of them,” said Reynolds, the institute’s director. Conservation organization Point Conception Institute.
The property was renamed the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve, after the entrepreneurs and longtime environmentalists donated $165 million to purchase it.
This landscape is the focus of more than 100 ongoing scientific studies and ecosystem restoration projects led by a coalition of researchers from universities and federal agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. They are leveraging advanced scientific tools, such as genetic analysis and hyperspectral sensors aboard satellites, to map places rich in biodiversity and identify species in trouble. , can give you warning of weeds before an invasion occurs.
The swirling offshore currents are also a confluence zone where Mexico’s warm ocean currents meet Alaska’s cold ocean currents, and periodic changes in ocean temperatures, known as La Niña and El Niño, bring an ever-changing variety of fish and other pelagic species. . .
Elsewhere, a research project is shedding new light on the evolutionary history of California’s coastal landscape.
For example, analysis of non-radioactive atoms in fecal samples revealed that 20% of the modern diet of California coastal coyotes consists of harbor seals and sea lions. This pattern first became apparent after grizzly bears became extinct a century ago.
“It will take decades to fully understand the unique adaptations and competition for resources that characterize Point Conception life,” Reynolds said.
The Desmond Preserve — eight miles of pristine shoreline, 70 miles of streams, 5,000 acres of native grassland, 200 species of wildlife, 600 species of plants, 6,000 acres of woodland, and 300 acres of wetlands — essentially It appears to be as wild as it was when it was occupied by the prehistoric Chumash people. I fished on that coastal plain.
Endangered brown pelicans skim in formation inches from the waves. A cormorant jumps in the swells. Oystercatchers forage along rocky shores. Golden eagles roam the forested hillsides and habitats of black bears, mountain lions, badgers, burrowing owls, the federally endangered red-footed frog, and the federally endangered brown-footed tortoise. Fly over the stream. Along the coast, coyotes prey on birds that nest in the sand.
Visitors can look down from the cliffs and see sea otters, kelp forests patrolled by great white sharks, and the legendary blue whale, which sends its breath of steam into the horizon from a 30-foot geyser.
Point Conception is the northernmost point of the California black walnut shoreline and the northernmost range of roadrunner habitat, said Laura Lisi, the preserve’s restoration manager. “Exactly why this happens remains a biological mystery.”
Access to the reserve is restricted. This includes the work of cattle, but also the ways in which wild animals can roam and maintain their vitality, Liege said.
To balance the needs of cattle and wildlife, selected slopes are grazed and have sufficient grass and shrubs to help low-flying birds of prey such as harriers locate gophers and other prey. kept low. In other areas, grazing is managed to prevent erosion and allow native plants and flowers to thrive.
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The reserve is not without its problems, some of them daunting.
An ambitious campaign is underway to restore endangered white and black abalone populations. Relentless fishing, unresponsive management, and disease have nearly wiped out this succulent marine invertebrate, once so abundant that its shells served as disposable ashtrays.
On a recent morning, Lige discovered a small patch of the federally endangered gaviota tar plant, crowned with delicate yellow flowers, growing among the 1,000 acres of ice plants targeted for removal. I was happy.
Invasive plants cover the headland that houses Point Conception Light, an 1881 lighthouse on the Gaviota Coast’s National Register of Historic Places.
“Look at this!” she said, clutching a leaf. The distinct pungent smell of plant citrus and crankcase oil lingered on her fingers. “That’s a real survivor.”
The same goes for the federally endangered Southern California steelhead, of which there are an estimated 500 individuals worldwide, living in the coastal waters between San Luis Obispo and the Mexican border (including the preserve’s Jarama Creek estuary). are scattered throughout.
Steelhead trout once flocked to the natural pools of Southern California’s spawning rivers until the channels were turned into reservoirs and concrete drainage channels.
The species is scientifically known as: Oncorhynchus mykiss, life as a native rainbow trout begins. For reasons still unknown, some individuals become steelhead through physical changes that move them to the ocean and return to spawn on freshwater gravel beds.
raise her voice so others can hear her Doku doku doku doku “Over the next three years, we will conduct underwater snorkel studies of the biological response to this demolition project,” Liege said, counting the number of helicopters airlifting debris from the dam that had halted steelhead’s annual spawning migration. Told.
“I guarantee you that in a few years this place will be even more amazing than it is now. We call it an ecological restoration work.”