Montecito Journal 4-11 Oct 2012 Vol 18 Issue 40

The Land Trust

The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County recently invited major donors and the Board of Trustees to the Montecito Country Club for a celebratory evening. What were they celebrating? The generous contributions that saved Hot Springs Canyon from development.

Amid mingling and meeting, sipping wine and eating canapes, executive director Michael Feeney gave us a progress report. "The property was owned by seven siblings who finally came down from $18 million to $7.6 million for the land. Our granddaughter will be able to walk the trails as long as she can." Part of the acreage (422 acres) will be deeded to Los Padres National Forest and the Land Trust will keep 40 acres.

The campaign was sparked by a very large donation from Marilyn and Dick Mazess and continued with donations from one hundred different folks. The Land Trust is a non-profit, which was begun in 1982 by volunteers. Now there are 1,000 members and a large volunteer force that serve as docents, help build and maintain trails, and work with a biologist to remove invasive weeds and add native plants. High school students may receive community service credit. To learn about volunteer days, email ltvolunteer@sblandtrust.com.

I had no idea of the special places that have been saved forever by the Land Trust. Besides Hot Springs Canyon, there is the Coronado Butterfly Preserve, the Sedgwick Reserve, the Modoc Preserve, Carpinteria Salt Marsh, Arroyo Hondo Preserve and Carpinteria Bluffs. There are 29 more conservation projects, as well. That's a total of 23,000 acres in the county.

If you'd like to create a legacy of conservation, call 966-4520 to talk about your options. As the group says, "These treasured places are for you to visit and share. Enjoy them all."