Tangible Resource: Land around Pt. Conception
Connected Theme(s): Preservation of undeveloped coastline
Universal Concept(s): Preservation, Natural Area
Main Points:
– 24,000-acre (38 sq mi) nature preserve protecting 8 miles of last-of-its-kind wild coastline in California.
– Owned & protected by The Nature Conservancy, who also owns the western 2/3 of Santa Cruz Island.
– The preserve encompasses a near wilderness of oak woodland, chaparral, forest and grassland ecosystems, rich with diverse marine and terrestrial habitats unlike any other in the state.
Other Points:
– Coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities are biodiversity hotspots. Badgers, bobcats, mule deer, mountain lions, lizards, snakes, and a variety of avian species.
– 5,000+ acres of grasslands, which are used by a large and diverse group of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects, including sensitive species like the American badger.
– Jalama Creek is a major perennial stream in the region; the Dangermond Preserve contains almost the entire Jalama Creek watershed.
– Due to its location and geography, Point Conception forms a major marine bio-geographic boundary, where the ranges of species from the north and south overlap, resulting in high biodiversity. This is a rich and productive area characterized by strong upwelling of cold nutrient-rich waters that fuels an ocean ecosystem providing food for hundreds of species of invertebrates, fish, seabirds and marine mammals.
Conversation-Starter Question(s):
Why do you think people are calling the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve “The Last Perfect Place”
Background (For Guides):
The former Bixby ranch was purchased by the Nature Conservancy with $165 million donated by Jack and Laura Dangermond and named after the couple. It is currently closed to the public, but the goal is to allow limited guided tours.
Chaparral (from the Spanish word for scrub oak, chaparro) is a community of summer-drought-tolerant plants with sclerophyllous (hard) evergreen leaves, as contrasted with the associated soft-leaved, drought-deciduous, scrub community of Coastal sage scrub. Chaparral communities are dominated by California lilac, Manzanita, Chamise, California coffeeberry, Black sage, Coast live oak and coastal scrub species. Coastal sage scrub communities are threatened by development throughout southern California. There are nearly 7,000 acres of coastal sage scrub at Dangermond Preserve.
The preserve represents the last intact ecosystem for the Southern California coast, where even our other protected areas are more focused on human recreation than ecosystem conservation.
Nature Conservancy Dangermond Preserve website
Story Map of Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve
Dangermond Preserve Intro Video and 2020 webinar with Preserve managers & scientists
Sources of information/Reference materials:
2022 news article about the Dangermond Preserve:
News articles with interview of Jack Dangermond:
Author: Jim Sommer
Date: 1 Oct 2022