Fiscalini Ranch Preserve Takes New Approach to Restoration 

Written by Estero Bay News

January 19, 2025

A group of volunteers are seen planting natives on the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve in December. Photo submitted

By Connie Pendleton 

The Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, an historic 437-acre public open space along the coast in Cambria, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. This makes it a good time to expand the restoration program, according to Kitty Connolly, executive director of the Friends of the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve (FFRP). 

The non-profit organization is taking a new approach: “forest restoration” rather than merely planting individual trees. 

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Connolly. 

This past December, a group of local volunteers planted approximately 500 California native plants including Monterey pines, coyote brush and toyon. 

Coyote brush supports monarch butterflies. By blooming in winter, they provide nectar to aid butterfly survival during their winter stay here. They also attract other insects. 


planting and other activities at the Ranch. Photo submitted

Toyon shrubs, which produce red berries and large clusters of showy flowers, attract a variety of birds and pollinators. 

Planting Monterey pines helps to restore the forest, which is one of the last five remaining stands in the world. The others are in Monterey, Santa Cruz and two small islands off Baja California. 

The FFRP was fortunate to receive an anonymous grant as well as support from the Upper Salinas Las Tablas Resource Conservation District. With this help, more natives will be planted this coming fall. Seeds are gathered from the site and delivered to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, where they are planted and nurtured. 

The new seedlings include coffeeberry, red current, monkey flower and toyon, all of which are considered “understory” plants. (They grow beneath the taller forest canopy.) Native plants are crucial for biodiversity. They help insects, birds and mammals that are normally found in the area to thrive. Natives are better adapted to the climate and soil allowing them to better withstand adverse weather conditions such as drought or floods. 

Connolly emphasized that milkweed (the plant that monarch butterflies use for laying their eggs), is not grown on the Ranch. Milkweed’s presence so close to the coast disrupts the migration pattern of the iconic butterflies.

Becoming educated is important. Even good-hearted people who have a desire to save monarchs can make mistakes that threaten their survival if they plant milkweed in Cambria. There are two identified locations in the forested area where monarchs like to congregate during winter months. Unfortunately, the numbers have fallen for this threatened beauty. A discussion during a recent docent walk revealed there were fewer than eight butterflies seen on the Ranch this winter. This is a severe reduction when compared to the hundreds or even thousands that have overwintered here in the past. 

FFRP staff and volunteers spent over 4500 hours in 2024 performing multiple tasks as a means of support. There are too many to list, but some include outreach events, manning the gift shop, free educational docent walks, school programs, pulling out ice plant and non-native weeds, and even cleaning trash off Main Street as well as the planting program. 

Ice plant, a non-native succulent from South Africa, has very shallow roots and holds water making it a very heavy plant. It places a lot of weight on the fragile bluffs, which may cause further erosion due to its inability to hold the soil together. It also changes the chemistry of the soil making it more difficult for native plants to reestablish themselves and does not support native flora and fauna. In fact, ice plant competes with native ecosystems. A couple years ago about $60,000 was spent to remove the invasive plant. Otherwise, volunteers regularly spend hours pulling it out. 

This past December, Sierra Club members from all over California and some from Oregon, Kansas, New Mexico and Wyoming came to Cambria for a week to help with the effort. Before Europeans arrived, Salinan and Northern Chumash tribes lived on the land. There were a lot of abalone and game available for food. After the time of Spanish colonization and then Mexican independence, the area including the Ranch became part of Rancho Santa Rosa, a Mexican land grant. Later it was used for agriculture and mining activities. It was eventually subdivided and sold. 

In 1885, the Fiscalini family bought the land and used it initially for dairy cows and then beef cattle. After owning it for almost 100 years, it was sold in 1979. After changing hands a couple times, developers made plans to build a golf course, shopping center, houses and other buildings. When they started blocking access to the property, residents went into an uproar! They got into gear and started having bake sales, magic shows, and used other fund-raising means to raise money to purchase the Ranch. They succeeded! 

Today, Friends of the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve functions as a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Ranch. It holds the conservation easement and works in conjunction with the Cambria Community Services District (CCSD) which holds the title and manages the land. More information may be found on the FFRP website, fiscaliniranchpreserve.org. An interesting and informative article on monarchs may be found at the following bit.ly/4aaaKo8.

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