Year: 2008

You may remember that a fire broke out on More Mesa in mid-summer of last year  (August 2007 News) Since last September, MMPC has routinely been monitoring the five acre burn area. Specifically, we were interested to see how both native plants, as well as invasive plants, were recovering, or colonizing, after the fire.  Twice monthly we observe specific areas and photograph the changes in different trees, shrubs and ground cover.

The Bad News:  Unhappily, all existing invasive species have made a robust recovery, except perhaps for fennel (which usually appears later in the year):

• Malva and Radish are everywhere.
• Harding Grass was slow to come up last fall, but now can also be seen in profusion.
• Eucalyptus is recovering fully with shoots from the base of burned plants
• Oxalis has covered almost all area with a thick, light green coating … which looks very pretty, but bodes ill for any native wildflowers.

The Good News: While many natives are recovering, the recovery is slower than that of the invasive species.  However, recent rains have benefited native plants so that:

• Coast Live Oaks are showing shoots in the burned upper branches of young trees, as well as shoots from the bottom of main trunks.
• Coyote Bush made a comeback in the fall and continue to be very robust.
• Willows are showing signs of new leaves in the top burned branches as well as near the base of the trunks.

Spring is a beautiful time on More Mesa … even in the fire area!

Burned Coyote Bush

Invasive Plants

Recovering Willows

So many of our supporters have expressed a great desire to do something concrete to preserve More Mesa.  Now there is a chance to do just that!  We need a “big presence” at an upcoming County sponsored Workshop on the planned More Mesa Biological Resource Study.

This study, recently discussed in the November 2007 News, has been requested by the owner of More Mesa.  Its purpose is to carry out an updated Biological Study of More Mesa; a prerequisite to making any changes to the “Environmentally Sensitive Habitat” (ESH) overlay on More Mesa. Therefore, as you can see, this is a very meaningful request. 

The Scoping Document for the study has been prepared, published and is available on the County website:  www.sbcountyplanning.org.   (Click on “Recent Updates” and then “More Mesa Biological Resource Study”– the Scoping Document is under “Proposed Scope of Work”.)

The announcement of the workshop, whose purpose is to discuss the Scoping Document, is also on this page.  Details of the workshop are as follows:

Date:  January 10, 2008
Time:  6 PM
Place: Planning Commission Hearing Room, 123 Anapamu St.

You may speak during the public comment period.  However, please note that discussion will be limited to only biological concerns and the focus of the study.  If you are unable to attend, instructions for mailing your comments may also be found in the announcement of the Workshop on the County site at the web address above.

When submitting written comments, please request that your comments be included as part of the public record – the deadline for submission is January 16th.

We urge you to attend this meeting.  A large turnout will demonstrate to the County, More Mesa’s owner, and the entire Santa Barbara area, that More Mesa occupies a special place in the heart of our community, and that the community cares deeply about its preservation.  Remember that this is the first step in what will be a series of meetings where your support will be vitally important.  Let’s fill up the hearing room on January 10th!!

Thanks for caring about More Mesa, and a Happy New Year from all of us at the More Mesa Preservation Coalition!