vass, he remembers the artists’ colony located here in the 1970s. Half a dozen artists leased the road yard buildings for their studios, and two large ce- ment boats languished in the weeds. By the early ’90s, the county had reclaimed its road yard and renewed operations. Five thousand additional native plants now grow


where asphalt paving once lay. Most were planted by Growing Solutions, a nonprofit educational foundation that for a time used the barn as a headquarters and greenhouse. Tags identify four kinds of sage, mug- wort, giant rye, wild rose and other vegetation. The preserve looks natural by design. It is a fully restored riparian and coastal sage scrub habitat A boggy area lies where the earth dips; cattails grow near a seep. Small oak trees have taken root under taller buck brush. A rustic railroad tie fence separates plants from parking area. The preserve’s de- sign is the creation of internationally-known landscape architect Isabelle Greene, who donated much of her services. By late afternoon, the fog has burned


off, and iridescent-winged dragonflies flit through shafts of sun. A roadrunner dangling a lizard from its beak streaks across the parking area. Inside the smaller adobe- colored building a committee from the SCA is holding a meeting. The MTF also meets here, and the Carpinteria Valley Association (CVA), another stakeholder in the preserve’s


development, uses the buildings to store records. As the sun sinks, hummingbirds buzz the flowers


of hummingbird sage in a final frenzy of nectar gathering to store up needed energy for the long, cool night. Swallows begin their evening ballet, funneling together, swirling in ever tighter circles over the barn, then, in a simultaneous commotion of wings, swooping all at once into their mud nests. As evening falls, bats take the swallows’ place,


zigzagging over the arroyo willows to gather mosquitoes. In the streambed below, tree frogs begin their piping trill. The lights from a passing car pick up the green gleam of a bobcat’s eyes as it runs for cover. Finally, when the preserve is enveloped in darkness, a great horned owl hoots from a tree top. This peaceful spot was hard-won. Two county


supervisors, Naomi Schwartz and Salud Carbajal, joined with the SCA, MTF and CVA to convince the county that a nature preserve was the highest and most valuable use for the property. Twenty-seven different agencies reviewed and approved the plans. Dave Hill, who chaired the Greenwell Preserve Committee through years of work, assessed his group’s accomplishment: “As we lose many of these small coastal drainages, each one becomes more valuable. They are related to our own wellbeing and spirit and are essential to the health of the oceans as well. The preserve is a jewel for the community, a lasting legacy that will belong to the generations.”¢


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