Careaga Canyon & Las Flores Ranches
San Antonio Creek Watershed - 5,200 acres

The Land Trust is working with three owners of adjacent ranches to create a conservation easement that could protect 5,200 acres of open rangeland, farmland, oak woodland and the watershed of Las Flores and Careaga Creeks. These ranches stretch from the Solomon Hills just south of Orcutt, to Highway 135 and San Antonio Creek near Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The conservation easement terms would protect an important wildlife corridor between inland habitat of the San Rafael Mountains and the rich coastal lands of western Santa Barbara County. These properties are one of the few watersheds in the area that have not been converted from rangeland to vineyards.

Despite a history of livestock grazing, dry farming and some oil and gas production, the Las Flores/Careaga Canyon area offers impressive biological diversity. Interspersed among the grasslands used for cattle operations are a network of coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and oak woodland habitats that support several rare and endangered plants and animals. The area contains rare plants such as Sand mesa manzanita and La Graciosa thistle, and animals including California tiger salamander, Red-legged frog, Western spadefoot toad and many kinds of migratory birds. The ranches are a recognized wildlife corridor for large mammals such as bear, deer, wild boar, mountain lion and bobcat.

The conservation easements will prevent further subdivision of this land, in an area facing growing development pressure from Santa Maria and Orcutt, and limit cultivated agriculture to historically farmed areas. The owners will retain the right to four existing and three additional family homes plus agricultural employee housing, located in already developed parts of the ranches.

The Careaga Canyon / Las Flores Ranch owners will make a charitable donation of part of the conservation easement value, improving the chance for the Land Trust to attract acquisition grants from the state and federal government and from private foundations. The Nature Conservancy has identified this project area as a priority for habitat protection, and may partner with the Land Trust to raise funds for the proposed easements.