Protecting Federal lands and waters in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties
About half the land in our Santa Barbara-Ventura Chapter area is owned by the Federal Government. Our Chapter is dedicated to keeping these lands and waters public and free of extractive industries to protect people and widlife. In certain areas, we support designation as wilderness, the highest protection available.
We are stewards of:
- Los Padres National Forest
- Channel Islands National Park
- Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
- Chumash Heritage Marine Sanctuary
Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest encompasses nearly two million acres of central California's scenic Coast and Transverse Ranges. The forest stretches across almost 220 miles from north to south. Santa Barbara and Ventura County lands are in the "main division" of the forest.
Expanding Wilderness
The Sierra Club supports the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act, which would designate approximately 250,000 acres of public land in the Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain National Monument as wilderness, the highest form of federal protection available. Read more: Carbajal Reintroduces Bill to Protect Local Wilderness Areas.
Sierra Club is vigorously fighting the second Trump Administration's plans to open up Los Padres National Forest to extractive industries, logging and roads.
Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park encompasses Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara islands and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources.
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary protects 1,470 square miles of ocean waters around the Northern Channel Islands: Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara islands.
Our campagin: Keep Channel Islands WILD!
Team members will fan out across the Sierra Club Santa Barbara-Ventura Chapter area, to the state Capitol and to the halls of power in Washington, DC speaking at events, to groups and organizations, rallying, advocating and meeting with decision makers to make absolutely certain that all wildlife and wild places in the Channel Islands land and marine ecosystems stay Channel Islands WILD!Join our team to:
- Lead the resistance to stop proposed new offshore oil platforms when the federal government releases plans for increased offshore drilling in federal waters of the Santa Barbara Channel.
- Continue our to work for a complete ban on the use of all long line nylon nets used by the commercial fishing industry to catch a targeted commercial fish species but these same nets which lie for miles below the surface of the ocean and entangle and kill hundreds of whales, sea otters, dolphins, seals, diving sea birds and sea turtles each year.
- Lobby members of congress for passage of legislation which would create several underwater sea mounts, sea caves and sea canyons national marine monuments in the SB Channel. This would prohibit undersea mining.
- Meet with the Japanese Consul General to discourage potential Japanese whaling in federal waters off the coast of SoCal.
- Prevent the removal of Santa Rosa Island from the national park.
Lobby congress to move forward with wilderness lands designations as recommended in the Channel Islands National Park General Management Plan, which congress has never acted upon. (Note: only an act of congress can create protected federal wilderness areas).
To join the Channel Islands WILD! team, email Jim Hines at: Jhcasitas@gmail.com