Lectures celebrate 30th anniversary of Channel Islands National Park
By Alex Wilson 02/25/2010
Channel Islands National Park officials celebrate its 30-year anniversary on March 5. Superintendent Russell Galipeau marks the occasion by presenting a film called “Restoring Balance: Santa Cruz Island” on March 9 and 10.
It highlights efforts to restore the island’s natural habitat by removing nonnative feral pigs and golden eagles, while helping native bald eagles and island foxes thrive.
“If you don’t talk about it and you don’t tell people why you do it, then it was just something that the park did and the federal government spent some money on, and everyone forgets about it. But these have been great learning experiences,” says Galipeau. “If you really want to protect something, there’s a cost to it, and there’s some time to it, and sometimes there’s some controversy.”
Galipeau will also discuss the future of the park, including a new general management plan under development that could lead to new recreational opportunities for Santa Rosa Island, such as the creation of a hostel and the establishment of wilderness areas.
The presentation is part of the monthly “From Shore to Sea Lecture Series,” jointly sponsored with the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, which manages the ocean waters surrounding the islands.
The full slate of lectures for 2010 was recently announced, and park spokeswoman Yvonne Menard says they cover a wide variety of current topics.
“This year, because of the 30th anniversary, we tried to feature researchers who had current research as well as a long tenure of conducting research in the park. So we’re always looking for information that’s relevant and current, so that the public gets to know the latest information,” says Menard. “We reach out to find out who’s recently published and done papers that would be ready and relevant for the public to enjoy.”
The lecture series is held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday of each month, starting at 7 p.m. The first one is always held at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum at 113 Harbor Way. The Wednesday lectures are held at the Channel Islands National Park Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at 1901 Spinnaker Drive at the Ventura Harbor.
The April lecture is titled “Bringing back the Samala Chumash Language” with Richard Applegate, the language program linguist for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, and Nakia Zavala, who’s a member of the tribe.
During May, there will be a film called “Six Generations,” which covers the history of a Chumash family with ties to the islands, by Chumash elder Ernestine Ygnacio De Soto and John Johnson of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
June’s lecture is called “Water Quality and Harmful Algal Blooms in the Channel Islands,” with Gregg Langlois of the California Department of Health Services.
For July, Bill Douros of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will discuss “Global Climate Change and West Coast Sanctuaries.”
Russell Galipeau presents another film during August, “A Treasure in the Sea,” which is the new film that will soon be shown at the Visitors Center.
September’s lecture will be presented by Chris Mobley of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and will include a film highlighting the sanctuary’s 30th anniversary.
A “Collaborative Lobster and Fishery Research Project” is the topic of October’s lecture by Hunter Lenihan of U.C. Santa Barbara.
The “History of San Miguels Islands’ Nidever Adobe Site” will be the topic of November’s lecture with Julia Costello.
Galipeau says the lecture series is well-attended and helps the park reach far more people than are able to journey to the islands.
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