Restoring a Prize Goleta Valley Habitat

Scientist Cristina Sandoval’s usual day as director of the 170-acre Coal Oil Point Reserve (COPR) includes a walk on the sandy beach and dunes of the special place she and biologist Kevin Lafferty have called home for nearly 20 years. This scenic area of the coast near UC Santa Barbara includes Devereux Lagoon and Sands Beach. It is where an abandoned breeding area for a small shore bird threatened by extinction has been restored to vitality.

Helped by a dedicated staff and many volunteers from the surrounding communities, particularly the Santa Barbara Audubon Society, Sandoval found ways over the years to re-create a secure place for the western snowy plover and other birds that feed, breed, and lay their eggs on sand or in muddy wetlands. She and a group of docents have done this while the popular Sands Beach remained open to surfers, strollers, and sunbathers.

As part of the UC Natural Reserve System, COPR each year hosts a score of college-level classes and several thousand visitors for study and research as well as recreation. Currently, 20 research projects are underway in the reserve, and a new Nature Center is being planned nearby, in part to showcase research results. (More about that later.)