San Marcos Foothills
The San Marcos Foothills are approximately 300 acres of ecologically rich land located in the foothills above Santa Barbara, CA. Because of its location and spectacular views, there has been a strong push by developers to build housing here, which would have a detrimental
impact on the ecosystem and close the land to public use. Due, in part, to grassroots efforts such as the San Marcos Foothills Coalition, 200 acres of the land was given to Santa Barbara County in January of 2007 for preservation and access by the general public. Eventually, the designated land will have a network of hiking trails connecting it to a public park.
This valuable land has fresh water seeps, extensive native grasslands, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, and four riparian zones, two of which have water flow year round. This diversity of habitat types guarantees plentiful wildlife. This land supports a variety of butterflies, insects, mammals, reptiles and birds and also provides habitat for rare species such as the White-tailed Kite and Grasshopper sparrow.
Not all of the land was able to be preserved. As part of the mitigation for developed areas, Growing
Solutions has been working to collect seed and grow nursery stock for restoration. Grassland species are most abundant, including copious amounts of Nasella pulchra (Purple Needle grass) as well as Sisyrinchium bellum (Blue-eyed grass) and Asclepias fascicularis (Narrow-leaved milkweed) to name a few. Other plant communities provide seed from plants such as, Salvia spathacea (Hummingbird sage), Clematis ligusticifolia (Creek Clematis), Scrophularia californica (Bee plant), Venegasia carpesioidies (Canyon sunflower), and Quercus agrifolia (Coast Live Oak). For more information on this site please visit the San Marcos Foothill Coalition website at: www.sanmarcosfoothills.org
Clematis ligusticifolia
