Ellwood Mesa’s joyous 20th anniversary on May 17 saw at least 300 peoplke showing up to celebrate and honor “something bigger than ourselves, rooted in love and legacy,” said Goleta’s Parks manager George Thomson.
In 2005 “there was no inevitability, no certainty that Ellwood Mesa would be preserved . . . average people, ordinary people, but exceptional people did the work,” noted Stuart Kasdin, Goleta mayor pro-tem.
“It’s important to know that the community is what saved Ellwood. It was the community that fought, even when we didn't have the support of the County or the courts … It is a reminder that we need to be persistent, we can't give up hope,” said Linda Krop, Chief Counsel of the Environmental Defense Center. She was a new staff attorney at the EDC in 1989 when residents were trying to stop a massive housing development project on the Mesa. They did.
The celebration started with a 5K run throughout the mesa, a great way to kick off a day of activities. Then a bike ride from Isla Vista and honors at Ellwood School where DeAnne Sawyer, director of ecosystem management at UCSB, went into the cafeteria to see hundreds of paper monarchs on the wall and she thought, “I’m home . . . It’s been an amazing collaboration, bringing in students from UCSB. One of the most significant impacts.”
Other events included a guided history walk, bird walk, nature journaling, musicians, poetry, plein air painting and the Bubble Man followed by a cadre of kids.
Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann reminded all that “It takes a community working together . . . through a sense of connection comes a tremendous, great capability of resilience in the face of threats.”
And yet, after 20 years and a celebration, Thomson warned that the “Monarch butterfly is at risk of going extinct,” with 95% of its habitat destroyed in California.
“Let’s be the generation that keeps it and we will not let this be lost,” adding “It’s more than a place, it’s a promise.”
Missed it? You can experience the video here: https://tinyurl.com/EllwoodMesaVideo