Santa Barbara Independent Highlights More Mesa Preservation Milestone

Since the Gap Fire has greatly heightened our awareness of fire, we are taking this opportunity to present a final update of plant recovery from the fire that broke out on More Mesa almost exactly a year ago.  That fire was described in our August 2007 News. Also, we previously presented an interim update concerning…

HACIENDA VIEJA There has been no update from the Coastal Commission staff on the Hacienda Vieja Project. It is probable that they will not complete their analysis for several months. We will keep you posted on developments as soon as we hear anything. USAGE SURVEY As we reported last month, MMPC has been out on…

So far, we are aware of at least eight fledged chicks from the first broods of More Mesa’s kites. Since kites often have two clutches a year, this early count is an extremely heartening number. Last year, the total count, for the whole breeding period, for all four mated pairs, was ten. This early news…

Mother Nature Does Her Thing, Even with a Record Breaking Drought In spite of what is shaping up as yet another drought year, More Mesa is green and blooming. In one short walk we spotted Poppies, California Brittlebush, Blue-eyed Grass, Redmaids, Owl’s Clover and Miniature Lupine. Many of these were in profusion and all a…

Summer Butterflies: If you have not already discovered it, we encourage you to check out one of our web site’s many slide shows of photographs of Butterflies seen on More Mesa. Furthermore, there is a downloadable pdf Guide.  And, happily, at this time of year you can see more and more of these local beauties in the…

At the beginning of this new year, we have exciting news to report about another glorious open space in the Santa Barbara area; the San Marcos Foothills. For decades, the Santa Barbara Community, as well as and a host of environmental organizations, have worked consistently and diligently to protect this area of great scenic beauty…