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Myspace“Look it! Look it!” screamed science teacher Ellen Clark to her Mountain View Elementary students while wandering through More Mesa. “It’s a white-tailed kite. See it?”
Turning their gaze away from burrowing owl burrows and toward the sky, the 5th and 6th graders watched the fast-flapping wings of the sleek bird of prey before it dipped behind the oak trees of Atascadero Creek. Seizing the teachable moment, Clark quickly showed them a poster about how the kite nests on More Mesa, the more than 300 acres of coastal bluff open space sandwiched between Goleta and Hope Ranch that’s a haven for countless species of wild animals and plants. A few minutes later, they’d be down in the creekbed, learning about the difference between three-leaves-let-it-be poison oak and if-it’s-hairy-it’s-a-berry bushes.
This wasn’t an official outing to study for some test, and it wasn’t even during school hours. The field trip was part of the Environmental Science Club that Clark started as a way of bringing kids into nature. “It’s so they develop an appreciation for nature. That’s all this is,” said Clark, a former ranger of Channel Islands National Park, and it seems to work. “These kids are like little sponges,” she explained. “I can’t keep up with them. They want to know more and more.” In addition to lunchtime talks on campus about bobcats, skunk tracks, and the kites, More Mesa — which will be celebrated during an art- and science-soaked fundraiser this Sunday — serves as the perfect classroom.
Parents like Rich Klakeg appreciate the club and the landscape. “I know for my daughter,” he said, “it’s just reinforcing that nature is a part of life.” The 10-year-olds get it too. Ally likes to come out “because it’s pretty,” and Gabey showed that the nature trips are already turning kids into more conscientious humans, explaining, “It’s green. Go green.” But perhaps Summer summed up More Mesa best for both young and old. “I just like the feeling because we get to be out in the open,” she said. “It’s peaceful.”
4•1•1
Enjoy garden tours, art displays, visits to orchid estates, and more at Preserve More Mesa 2012 this Sunday, May 20, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at More Mesa Shores. Tickets are $8-$15 each depending on size of group and age. See moremesa.org or call 805-683-1878 for info.
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Comments
I've heard it's more like 400 acres.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
May 11, 2012 at 5:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Officially it is 265 acres.
Matt (Matt Kettmann)
May 12, 2012 at 10:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You're scaring the plovers! Go somewhere else....
BBOY (anonymous profile)
May 12, 2012 at 10:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I stand corrected.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
May 12, 2012 at 8:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Matt, et al, you are incorrect. More Mesa consists of parcels under four different ownerships. It is 329 total acres.Where you get confused is that the largest piece, owned by Sun Mesa Corp, is 265 acres. The next biggest chunk, 54 acres, is owned by SB County and includes 47 acres designated as a park, which we secured some years ago with Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund money. Although we've managed to stop residential development on the big piece, over and over again, it is still in private hands and that presents an ongoing problem from conservationists. It's big and beautiful and still needs saving: Save More Mesa.---Larry
ginger3 (anonymous profile)
May 14, 2012 at 2:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Okay, good to know.
Matt (Matt Kettmann)
May 14, 2012 at 2:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From the bluffs to Mockinbird it's 6/10 of a mile. I've walked/ran that piece of property many times. I think Larry's right because the overall expanse is much more than just one legal parcel. Patterson Ave. winds around and hits the property at the Southwest end.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
May 14, 2012 at 3:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If we as a community cannot save More Mesa then we as a species cannot save planet Earth. Will greed triumph over nature? Not if we all chip in just a little bit of time,effort and money. Don't wait do it now.
Noletaman (anonymous profile)
May 16, 2012 at 2:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)