Alongside conserving local lands, the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County wants to teach people about the area they call home, Vanessa Stowers told the Sun.
“We are very lucky to live in this unique space, and it’s something that I don’t ever want to take for granted, so really appreciating why Santa Barbara County is so special—one of those things is the landscape,” said Stowers, the Land Trust development and communications director. “If you can do things that can educate yourself on it … it just makes our community have a little bit more pride.”
The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County works to conserve open space, agricultural lands, and biodiversity hotspots throughout the county. It works with willing landowners to pursue options like easements to protect land in perpetuity, and to monitor and restore lands, and purchase land if the trust has the ability, Stowers said.
“Within the last 40 years, we have conserved [more than] 57,000 acres of land in the county, and one of our big efforts, because we are countywide, is to really make sure the entire county feels like we are a land trust for everyone,” she said. “We are pushing more efforts in our programming.”
These efforts include the Land Trust’s Discover Outside program—a series of free, family-friendly events, public talks, guided treks, shopping days, and a Family Day at Arroyo Hondo Preserve that runs from June 13 to 16 and again from June 20 to 23.
“Discover Outside was established last year just to get people excited about being outdoors and different things happening within the series that catered to everyone—talks for education purposes, led hikes or guided hikes throughout the county,” Stowers said.
One of last year’s highlights returning this year is Family Day at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, where families can participate in docent-led or self-guided tours and visit education stations to learn more about the creek environment and its inhabitants, she said.
“In addition, we have talks happening throughout the county aimed at educating the public on what we do and why it’s valuable. We are trying to cater to everyone in the community,” Stowers said. “We have some shopping days there where we have partners—if you mention the Land Trust they will give you a discount or give proceeds back to the Land Trust.”
As a Santa Maria native, Stowers said she’s happy to see more efforts to expand events into North County and ensure that there are opportunities for everyone.
“It’s a great way to learn something new or maybe see a part of the county you haven’t seen before. I know up until I worked at the Land Trust I never went to the Arroyo Hondo preserve,” Stowers said. “It doesn’t always have to be doing something that is maybe not accessible to different ages and abilities to enjoy the outdoors, and the Discover Outside series reflects that because you can appreciate all the county has to offer no matter what your age is, what your ability is.”
All events are free, but some require an RSVP ahead of time. See the full list of events and register at sblandtrust.org/news-events.
Highlights
• Lompoc Parks and Recreation offers teens the opportunity to become involved in their community while receiving work experience and leadership training during the summer through its Volunteen Program. The program is meant for students ages 13 to 15 and will provide hands-on training for teens to acquire new skills, learn responsibility, and provide them with volunteer hours—which may help a teen acquire scholarships and/or employment in the future. Those interested must submit a volunteer application and pass an oral interview. Call (805) 875-8100 or email [email protected] for an application or additional information.
• Laura Branch, an Ernest Righetti High School science teacher, received the 2023 Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year award from the Santa Barbara County Office of Education. Branch teaches a variety of science courses, including concurrent physical geology through Allan Hancock College, career technical education (CTE) AP environmental science, and chemistry of the Earth system. She created and developed the curriculum for Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s first CTE environmental resources pathway. Earlier in her career, she was one of the first teachers in California to develop a stand-alone geology course at the high school level.
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at [email protected].
