Montecito Trails Foundation & Greenwell Preserve Restoration

The Montecito Trails Foundation is collaborating with the Summerland Citizens Association, along with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, to restore the Greenwell Preserve to its natural habitat. The Greenwell Preserve is located at Greenwell Road and Asegra Road, Summerland. 

The property is owned and managed by the State Coastal Conservancy who is responsible for the Greenwell Preserve and any adjacent projects to keep the habitat up to speed. According to the Southern California Wetlands Project, the site has had numerous restoration efforts dating back 25 years, funded by various government agencies directly, and manned by grassroots organizations. 

In April 2025, I reported in the Montecito Journal that the SCA in 2023 formally requested a 50-year lease on the property, and in 2024 requested an extension on the lease through 2074. (https://tinyurl.com/MJ-MTF-SCA)

The Channel Islands Restoration organization, aka CIR, occupied the Greenwell Preserve from 2018 until recently, when they outgrew the space and pulled out to larger pastures. This created – of the former CIR occupied-and-managed area – a new restoration project. Lessee of the Greenwell Preserve – The Summerland Citizens Association – is holding a community volunteer clean-up and restoration project on October 25 on the site, this in conjunction with The Montecito Trails Foundation.

The Montecito Trails Foundation has been a partner on the Greenwell Preserve, as the Foundation uses the area as one of their key community hiking trails, with its excellent views and interesting biodiversity. They just led a four-mile hike on July 21, called the Greenwell Loop, which started at the Greenwell Preserve, and hiked towards Montecito and the Valley Club on East Valley Road.

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden recently conducted a full-on consultation-evaluation on the habitat currently there and opportunities going forward. Their findings are published in a 19-page report. Highlighted recommendations are: 

Trail – consult an arborist to assess the health of the trees on the trail, eliminate fuel ladders (flammable vegetation that creates a fire path from the ground level into tree canopies), prune excessive invasive species, and add plants in the fall.

Entrance – add native plants

Riparian Area near the Entrance – add woodland plants to encourage bird populations

Roadside Swale – adding a dry creek bed or bioswale to the roadside swale that is a wet spot during the rainy season. This swale will slow down water movement and encourage ground water replenishing

Native Plant Nursery– use sheet mulch and add a rain garden

The approximate two-acre Greenwell Preserve is located in CA State Assembly District 37 – Assembly Member Gregg Hart, Congressional District 24 – Salud Carbajal and Senate District 21 – Monique Limón.