Near the end of the 1920s, an oil boom started at the
Ellwood Oil Field resulting in additional drilling along the coast. During
World War II, a Japanese submarine shelled the pier, tanks, and associated equipment.[4] The
Bombardment of Ellwood began in the evening of February 23, 1942. A few weeks after the
attack on Pearl Harbor, the
Continental United States came under attack. A
radio address by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt was being broadcast when the sub surfaced in the
Santa Barbara Channel.[5] No one was hurt but there was damage to an oil pier. The incident created fear, and panic on the West Coast.[6] The Army set up a radar unit where a beach resort had developed in the early 1920s as the
automobile age began and the beaches became a popular destination for motorists. After the unit was decommissioned in 1946, the owners sold the property to the state and
Refugio State Beach continued as a popular beach getaway.[7] In 1953, the state purchased another private campground and created
El Capitán State Beach.[8]
Congress ordered a study in 1999 for a proposed 76-mile-long (122 km) National Seashore from
Coal Oil Point at
UC Santa Barbara to
Point Sal at the northern boundary of
Vandenberg Space Force Base.[9] Although the
National Park Service found the area suitable with nationally significant natural and cultural resources,[2] the study found the establishment to not be feasible due to local opposition within the approximately 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) study area and the high cost of acquiring land and operating a new park.[10][11]
Crude oil and
natural gas produced by
offshore platforms is processed at onshore receiving plants connected to distant
refineries by pipelines. The
Refugio oil spill on May 19, 2015, immediately north of Refugio State Beach, leaked 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels; 541,000 liters) of
crude oil out of one of the pipelines.[12]
The proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary began a public comment process in 2021 after a positive review of the nomination submitted by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council.[13] The shoreline would include some coastal landmarks significant to the tribe's heritage as proposed along 156 miles (251 km) of coastline from Gaviota Creek north to Santa Rosa Creek near the town of Cambria, San Luis Obispo County.[14] The proposed
marine sanctuary of about 7,600 square miles (20,000 km2) has extensive kelp forests, vast sandy beaches and coastal dunes, and wetlands serving as nursery grounds for numerous commercial fish species and important habitat for many threatened and endangered species.[15][15]
Alisal Fire
The Alisal Fire ignited in the afternoon of October 11, 2021; it burned 16,970 acres (6,868 ha) and destroyed 12 homes.[16] One of the last blazes of the
2021 California wildfire season, the wildfire broke out near the Alisal Reservoir and strong northwest winds rapidly pushed the fire south through the rugged
Los Padres National Forest.[17] The fire grew by hundreds of acres within hours as
sundowner winds fanned the flames over the summit of the
Santa Ynez Mountains towards the Tajiguas Landfill.[18] Gusting winds up to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) prevented the dispatch of aircraft that were at the ready.[19] Critically low fuel moisture resulted in very extreme fire behavior during the first two nights.[20] The next day as winds turned more favorable, tanker jets created fire breaks by dispersing
fire retardant. Throughout each day, the turnaround was quick as ground crews reloaded the aircraft at the
Santa Maria Air Tanker Base.[21] After the fire crossed Route 101 to
Tajiguas Beach, it expanded east and west and kept the highway closed for over three days.[22] Commuter and long-distance rail service were also suspended during that period.[23] The state beaches, Gaviota, Refugio, and El Capitán, closed as the firefighters used them for housing, access, and staging.[24] The fire burned the filtration system which uses wood chips at the Tajiguas Landfill and damaged the drainage system, the landfill gas collection system, and some heavy equipment.[25] Crews worked to keep the fire away from buildings on the scattered ranches, the shuttered Exxon Mobil facility in Las Flores canyon, and
Rancho del Cielo, the vacation home of President
Ronald Reagan and First Lady
Nancy Reagan.[26] Freedom Lake, one of two lakes at the ranch, has been used to supply aerial water drops.[27] Four single residences were reported destroyed on October 16, along with two outbuildings that suffered damage. Firefighters prepared for expected higher temperatures and drier winds.[28] The fire was fully contained on November 20.[29] Preparations for potential mudslides, and debris flows began with a team of engineers, scientists, and geologists determining at-risk spots.[30] Highway 101 repair projects included clearing and repairing damaged
drainage culverts and installing rock netting on bare hillsides.[31] Volunteer efforts included efforts to help the native vegetation grow back where bulldozers had created
fire lines.[32]
Geography
Situated on a narrow
coastal terrace between a rugged coastline and the
Santa Ynez Mountains which parallels the coast along its entire length with the north end of the mountain range diverging into two low ridges, separated by
Jalama Creek, which then vanish into the Pacific Ocean just before reaching
Lompoc. The
Santa Ynez River flows just north of the mountains, paralleling them for most of their length. Much of the mountain range is within the
Los Padres National Forest,[33] With the
Mediterranean climate, the unusual abundance and diversity of wildlife includes an estimated 1,400 plant and animal species.[9] The Santa Ynez Mountains are a
migration corridor for wildlife from the large interior region of California. Wildlife includes
mountain lions,
black bears,
badgers,
golden eagles, and the
California condor.[34] The mountains parallel the
Channel Islands to the south, another east–west trending range which is a geologic extension of the
Santa Monica Mountains.
The coastal waters are considered unique for the
biodiversity of ocean life.[35][36] The unusual species found here are the result of the cold water from the north meeting the warm water from the south.[37] The
annual migration of about 19,000
Gray whales through the
Santa Barbara Channel may come as close as 100 feet (30 m) from the shoreline.[37] The marine environment has extensive kelp forests and wetlands serving as nursery grounds for numerous commercial fish species and important habitat for many threatened and endangered species.[15] The Gaviota Creek watershed is the largest watershed along this coast and is the most important
steelhead stream in Southern Santa Barbara County.[38] Refugio Creek is one of the larger coastal streams along the coast and descends through a mosaic of commercial orchards, ranches, and rural residential developments and crosses under Highway 101 before flowing into the
Pacific Ocean.[39]
The lightly populated area has large ranches with much of the land held in agricultural preserves under the
Williamson Act and used for avocado, lemon and other fruit orchards.[43] Dos Pueblos, a 214-acre ranch (87 ha), was subdivided as
Naples, but remained undeveloped.[44] The ranch is within
Rancho Dos Pueblos, a 15,535-acre (62.87 km2)
Mexican land grant, stretching between the
Goleta Slough and the boundary of El Capitan State Beach.[45][46] Dos Pueblos Institute uses the ranch as an outdoor classroom teaching sustainable agriculture and provides Chumash bands with a place for ceremonies.[47] The Cultured Abalone Farm, which is situated on the ranch, is partnering with the
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Southwest Fisheries Science Center on the
White Abalone Restoration Consortium, which is studying this endangered marine snail and restoring the wild populations. They are also collaborating in developing curriculum to educate the next generation about sustainable
aquaculture and
conservation.[48]
Hollister Ranch has six beaches but they are difficult for the public to access.[49] Some of the ranches are also luxury estates.[50] El Rancho Tajiguas is a 3,600 acres (1,500 ha) working ranch that was developed with two luxury homes over a period of 40 years under the ownership of
Mansour Ojjeh.[51][52] The 1,800 acres (730 ha) Las Varas Ranch was purchased by
Charlie Munger and donated to the
University of California, Santa Barbara in 2018.[53]
The area was one of the earliest locations in California developed for
offshore oil and gas production.
Crude oil and
natural gas are produced from
offshore platforms. The Hondo and Harmony oil rigs can be easily seen offshore in front of the Channel Islands in the Santa Barbara Channel from the highway or railroad.[54] Local land use agencies have kept oil processing facilities to a minimum while the oil and gas are processed at onshore receiving plants before being transported to distant
refineries.
The Strauss Wind Farm, consisting of twenty-seven windmills atop rolling hills near the ocean, powered up in 2023. The first
wind power complex on the California coast is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of Lompoc, the nearly 3,000-acre site (1,200 ha) includes IdentiFlight, a way to identify approaching raptors and temporarily stop the turbines before the raptors enter rotor range, as
red-tailed hawks are common here.[55]
US 101 and the
main coastal railroad line both parallel the coastline atop the coastal bluff with
train trestles crossing the stream beds that cut through the slope.[58] A 2023 study showed the need to improve wildlife corridors by fixing culverts to accommodate larger species such as mule deer and mountain lion.[59] The 21-mile-long (34 km) section of US 101 from the north boundary of
Goleta to
State Route 1 at
Las Cruces is designated by the state as a scenic highway.[60] While the highway turns inland at
Gaviota State Park, the coastal bluff section of the rail line is longer at 30 miles (48 km) traversing areas mostly inaccessible to the public.[61][62] A 2.5-mile (4.0 km) section of the
California Coastal Trail was built within Gaviota State Park.[63][64] An Interim alignment for a section of the trail from
Guadalupe to the state park is under study.[65][66] These routes follow Chumash and
Spanish Period trails.[2]
^Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, United States Department of the Interior (March 5, 2004).
"Gaviota Coast Feasibility Study"(PDF). Letter to Richard Pombo Chairman, Committee on Resources House of Representatives. Archived from
the original(PDF) on July 3, 2004. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
^Welsh, Nick (October 16, 2021).
"Alisal Fire 50 Percent Contained". The Santa Barbara Independent.
Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
^Kester, Andria (April 27, 2017).
"Saving The Gaviota Coast". Odyssey Online. Antioch University, Santa Barbara.
Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
^United States. District Court (California : Southern District). Land case. 150 (1842),
Diseño del Rancho Los Dos Pueblos, California (in Spanish),
archived from the original on January 7, 2022, retrieved January 7, 2022{{
citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
^Welsh, Nick (January 5, 2022).
"Dos Pueblos Ranch Gets New Owner". The Santa Barbara Independent.
Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
^Hamm, Keith (December 12, 2018).
"UCSB Gifted Las Varas Ranch". The Santa Barbara Independent.
Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
^Slack, Gordy.
"Saving the Seagull Coast". Land & People. The Trust for Public Land.
Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2020.