University celebrates grand opening of North Campus Open Space
A woman read of the informational signs at UCSB’s North Campus Open Space on Thursday.
A ribbon cutting ceremony and a follow-up community event recently celebrated the grand opening of UCSB’s restored North Campus Open Space.
The area has been described as a living laboratory to offer inspiration and a personal connection to nature.
Supporters of the restoration project say it fulfills a vision of providing ecological function, a rare species habitat and public access to a gateway to the Ellwood-Devereux coast.
There were two events last week that celebrated the opening.
The first event on Thursday was the formal ribbon cutting ceremony, which was geared toward the agencies that funded the project.
Ernestine Ygnacio DeSoto, who’s an elder with the Cieneguitas Mission band of Chumash Indians, led a Barbareño blessing. Her mother was a fluent speaker of the Chumash language.
The second event on Saturday was a fun celebration to introduce the community to the new trail section.
“We had around 200 community members coming out to enjoy the Mesa portion of the trail system. It was a great event,” Darwin Richardson, project manager of the North Campus Open Space, told the News-Press.
According to a website, “the North Campus Open Space Restoration Project restores the upper arms of Devereux Slough with funding from partner agencies. Restoration of the estuary will support a diversity of birds, fish, and wildlife; absorb flood waters; and is adaptive to sea level rise.”
Mr. Richardson elaborated further.
“It is essentially a large area that is public space open to the community for wildlife habitat access,” he said. “In addition, there are 3½ miles of trails that connect to the Coal Oil Point Reserve and the Ellwood Mesa Open Space. Additionally there are a myriad of opportunities for research aspects of UCSB.”
The project was led by the UCSB Cheadle Center., which conducted research on details such as local plants, soil types and habitat creation. That information went to a consulting firm, which created the final restoration plan.
“Project planning for the open space was based on both community values and scientific data,” Mr. Richardson said. “A community-based planning process conducted in 2013-14 with the Trust for Public Land identified the community’s desire for a naturalistic, simple public access program that supports wildlife viewing opportunities.
“This is a huge restoration project that is the largest in our region,” Mr. Richardson said. “This kind of project of this scale has not been seen in this region. I think it is an exciting opportunity for not just the area and the community, but the broader potential beyond.”
For more information visit openspace.vcadmin.ucsb.edu.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
