City of Goleta Ellwood Mesa

Clustering monarchs at Ellwood Mesa, photo by Charis van der Heide

Ellwood Mesa in Goleta, California is an important node in a connected mosaic of protected lands – including the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County's Coronado Butterfly Preserve and UCSB’s recently restored North Campus Open Space. It is also one of the most important overwintering sites for the western population of monarch butterflies. For decades, Ellwood’s eucalyptus grove offered the specific microclimate characteristics monarchs require to survive the winter months. But monarch populations are declining globally, and the overwintering population at Ellwood has declined as well, raising alarm bells in the community. 

The City is serious about its responsibility for this vital place and has invested significant resources and talent over many years to develop a habitat management plan and begin its implementation. The City’s Parks and Open Space Division invited LegacyWorks Group to help them unveil the City’s efforts to restore this beloved natural area. To ensure the community is aware of the remarkable amount of work that’s been done and the science behind the plan, our team is synthesizing years of community input, research, and planning into simple, clear messages and stories. To get those stories out, we manage an Ellwood section on the City’s website, draft project-related signage, and coordinate community opportunities, including a symposium on monarchs in partnership with the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, a neighborhood fire safety meeting in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council and the creation of a Friends of Ellwood organization.

Read more in our Insight post The Heart of Ellwood Mesa and the Santa Barbara Independent’s Ellwood 2.0 Ready for Launch.