Chaparral Wisdom
To celebrate the magic and beauty of Nature & the chaparral
Breathe Again – Become a Chaparral Naturalist
Our New Class Begins February 25, 2023.
Please Join Us by Applying on Our Website.
There’s nothing quite like discovering kindred spirits at a neighborhood pub. Apparently, everyone had been forewarned and was happy about it – I had come to recruit for Nature, with flyers in hand.
The friendly spirits I encountered led to the only reasonable response one could have at a pub. “Well,” I slowly announced with the grizzled cowboy accent I often use at times like this, “I need to join ya all in a drink.”
As I rose to go to the bar, I was quickly informed I could just scan the code embedded in the tabletop and order that way. I looked at the hieroglyphics, waved my hand, and proceeded to the bar, muttering along the way, “Internet nonsense.”
I was greeted by a smiling bar tender, ordered an IPA she thought was best, and handed her my credit card. “Keep the tab open?” “Sure.” Before going back to the table with my brew, I handed the bar tender the flyer for our Chaparral Naturalist class that I pulled from my back pocket. “You look exactly like the kind of adventurous spirit we would love to have in our program!”
“You know, I might just do that!”
Class of 2015 – our first year
At some point during the evening, I was asked to say something about our class. I climbed up on the bench and provided a somewhat boisterous, encouraging message about how everyone there would enjoy our naturalist program because it would offer them a wonderful break from a hectic world. “Our class will help all of you remember how comforting and inspiring your original home really is – Nature!”
In the midst of my oratory, a pub employee came over and requested that I climb down from my platform. I complied after a quick quip, “But we’re having so much fun!” Everyone laughed. Back on the ground, I handed the employee the class flyer. “You’re the kind of leader we need. You should sign up to become a Chaparral Naturalist.”
He looked confused, but ended up leaving with a somewhat cautious, crooked smile on his face.
Class of 2016
Read MoreI Am Spring
October.
The time of heat and drought is ending.
Temperamental bouts of rain are near.
In anticipation,
manzanita flower buds are swelling, sagebrush flowers are blooming,
and White-crowned Sparrows are arriving.
Signs of me;
signs of spring.
Elsewhere,
dead of winter beckons,
flowers have faded,
leaves turning gold, red, and brown,
and the birds have left for richer land;
my land.
I am spring.
Destroyer of Habitat – US Forest Service
Due to a sudden influx of money, a federal agency that had once shown promise of becoming a protector of native chaparral habitat, has become a destroyer. The Los Padres National Forest plans to clear a quarter million acres of habitat, most of which is chaparral.
Why? Because Nature is now seen only as “fuel,” not as living habitat.
To the US Forest Service,
Our family is sitting on our backyard patio in Escondido, watching a pair of Spotted Towhees enjoying the habitat we’ve created over the past three years. They successfully raised at least one offspring this year. We saw it scampering about looking for food with the help of its parents.
Where once was lawn is now a rich chaparral, sage scrub wonderland. It’s all framed by several Refugio manzanitas (Arctostaphylos refugioensis) that have really taken to our place. They outgrow and out-flower any other Arctostaphylos species we’ve planted. That seems odd because they’re a relatively rare species native to the coastal ridge line above Gaviota, just west of Santa Barbara. We’re looking forward to this January when the white, urn-shaped blossoms will be covering the ground with chaparral snow.
I got to thinking about the temporary reprieve our lawsuit provided in 2017 to the Refugio manzanitas that were scheduled to be masticated by US Forest Service grinding machines along the Gaviota ridge. We knew at the time the reprieve would be transitory. That’s the way many environmental protection lawsuits work – they merely delay.
The inevitable occurred during the 2021 Alisal Fire. Dozers ripped out and crushed many of the manzanitas we had protected. Much of the destruction was for naught as the fire had already moved quickly toward the ocean. But dozers are not easily stopped once the fire brigade arrives. Ironically, the fire appears to have started along the old ridge line fuel break, likely in the flammable, weedy grasses that invade such disturbed places. The same situation occurred during the 2019 Cave Fire above Santa Barbara. We cited this key risk factor in our 2017 lawsuit – fuel breaks create conditions more conducive to ignitions.
And now the Refugio manzanitas that remain along the ridge face yet another threat, as do tens of thousands of acres of chaparral throughout the Los Padres National Forest, with the newly proposed LPNF Ecological Restoration Project; the use of Orwellian doublespeak is common in land management policy.
We had hoped this destructive approach to chaparral was a thing of the past.
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