Land Management Plan - Part 2 Los Padres National Forest Strategy

September 2005 Land Management Plan Part 2
Los Padres National Forest Strategy
Santa Barbara Front
Them e: For coastal communities from Carpinteria to Gaviota, Santa Barbara Front Place
present s a rugged, wild-appearing highly scenic backdrop. It is one of the 'Key Places'
represe nting the most picturesque national forest locations containing its own landscape
character. Rock outcrops provide contrasts
of color within the deep green chaparral. From the
ridgelin e of the east-west trending Santa Ynez Mountains, Santa Barbara Front Place offers
dramatic southern views of the ocean, Channel Islands and coastal communities. Views north of
the ridgeline include Santa Ynez Valley, Lake Cachuma, mountainous wilderness and distant
remote areas. Santa Barbara Front Place affords immediate access from urban areas to a natural
forest environment and is an important area for viewing scenery.
Setting: Part of the western Transverse Ranges, Santa
Barbara Front Place consists of steep, chaparral-covered
slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Within five miles
of the coast, elevations rise dramatically to 4,298 feet at
Santa Ynez Peak. West of California State Highway
154, the Place includes National Forest
System land on
both sides of the ridgeline. East of California State
Highway 154, the Place includes national forest land on
the south side of the Santa Ynez Mountains ridgeline.
The majority of the Place is located within Santa
Barbara County, and California State Highway 101
parallels the southern boundary. The scenic backdrop of
the Place adds to the value of adjacent coastal and
inland properties.
The Santa Barbara Front Place extends forty-six miles and includes a lengthy forest/urban
interface zone. Numerous private inholdings provide a mixed land ownership pattern with large
lot zoning and generate occasional proposals for land exchanges. The Place includes headwaters
of multiple small streams and creeks that flow through agricultural and urban areas before
reaching the ocean. Groundwater and surface water sources have been extensively developed for
domestic and agricultural uses along the entire front. Three tunnels transport water from the
Santa Ynez River through the mountains to
Looking up toward Santa Barbara Front Place coastal communities. Very little grazing and
from Santa Barbara Harbor
no mining occur within this place.
Landslides create maintenance problems
where highways and other roads cut through
steep terrain.
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The Place has a history of large and
sometimes devastating wildland fire events.
Sundowner winds (unique to the Santa
Barbara Front Place) contribute to fastmoving
and destructive wildland fires that
can threaten adjoining communities. As
urbanization spreads towards forested land,