Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

The Cheadle Center at UCSB manages the North Campus Open Space (NCOS), which is a project that has restored 136 acres of upland and wetland habitats that existed before the area was converted into the Ocean Meadows Golf Course in the 1960s. The NCOS restoration project began in 2017 with a fine-scale grading of the site in order to recreate the salt marsh and use the excavated soil to rebuild the upland habitats to the southwest, which are now called the NCOS Mesa. In addition to re-establishing native biodiversity, a key goal of the restoration is to utilize the site as an educational, scientific, and recreational resource. This archived version of the March 2022 newsletter includes updates on native plantings at the new Outdoor Classroom, modifications to the swallow nesting structure to prevent rodent predation, and the Santa Barbara County Breeding Bird Study. The feature story focuses on wildflower restoration and monitoring. Community photos include Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), American Coot (Fulica americana), Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), and Bush Sunflower (Encelia californica).