Article taken from the
Santa Barbara News Press
Voice From
Santa Barbara; Mike McGinnis Editorial News 4/15/03
The future of the ecology of Southern and Central California is dependent on how we organize to defend the systems that we are irrevocably connected to. In the case of preserving the ecosystems and watersheds of the Gaviota coast, we need to restore the natural contract with the landscape and seascape of the region. The future of this place and community depend on the development and successful implementation of a shared vision that includes the input of the scientific community and members of the general public, not just the voices of those who own the land or manage the land. The natural contract requires ecological thinking, and a careful and responsible treatment of the more-than-human community. The natural contract often is broken, as in the case of rezoning land from agricultural use to residential development. A reliance on zoning or rezoning can't support the goal of permanent protection of this last coast. Zoning, even with a SOAR-like initiative, is not permanent. Overall, we know we cannot rely on the federal government to protect our home place. Our goal should be to develop a serious community-based effort to permanently protect the watersheds, ecosystems and associated biodiversity of the coastal province, with some landowner buy-in. At this time, it remains unclear whether Common Ground or the Gaviota Study Group have made enough progress toward a vision or plan that supports permanent protection of the coastal ecosystems and native species diversity of the coastal province. Yet, it is essential that a strong, diverse alliance and social network of community activists begin to organize and support permanent protection of the Gaviota coast. A true ecological plan for the coast should be based on a watershed-based approach. This is but one lesson learned from a history of poor and unsustainable land-use and planning. We need to begin a large-scale enterprise; there are 34 coastal watersheds of the Gaviota province. We also need to recognize and understand that the Gaviota coast is one essential core to a larger ecological region or bioregion of the Southern California bight. Permanent protection of the coast requires restoring the relationships we have with one another; it requires restoring the relationship between the natural, urban and rural components of this landscape.
Mike McGinnis is a resident of the Santa Ynez mountains.
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