We can preserve Sherman land

By: DIANE NYGAARD - Commentary: | Wednesday, September 6, 2006 8:26 PM PDT ∞

Today we have the opportunity to preserve a priceless part of our local heritage ---- or to see it lost forever to more houses and another strip mall. The 134-acre Sherman property is half of the remaining Buena Vista Creek Valley in northeastern Carlsbad. This valley is a special place with a priceless combination of natural and cultural resources and historical significance. From early Luiseno encampments to the historic adobe school tours of today, this valley that served past generations can be preserved for the generations of the future.

Located south of Highway 78 between El Camino Real and College Boulevard, the Sherman property is in the heart of this valley. It includes a key reach of Buena Vista Creek, a pond fed by artesian springs and high-quality natural land that supports a rich diversity of plants and animals. Upstream is the sacred waterfall and an old mine site. Downstream the creek meanders through constrained development to the Buena Vista Lagoon.

The valley is a place of rare historical significance. As the El Salto waterfall stirs our imagination today, it has been a focus for the spiritual life of native people for generations. The area is part of a cultural corridor of the Luiseno people extending from the falls on the east through the valley to the Buena Vista Lagoon. This area has been recorded in history from the time of the original Portola expedition to California in 1769 and was part of the original Mexican land grant. This is a very special place where the people of the First Community lived, hunted, worked, laughed and cried for over 9,000 years.

This is a place of natural beauty, from the banks of the creek to the bluffs of the coastal sage scrub hillsides. The artesian pond supports lush vegetation and migrating birds. Because it is the critical link in the regional wildlife corridor, the state and federal wildlife agencies designated it the number-one priority land acquisition in all of coastal North County. The riparian corridor helps filter pollutants from upstream development before it gets to our precious local beaches. This is a very old and new place of life ---- plant life, animal life and the life of the people of this community.

The Trust for Public Land has this property under contract. The landowner is a willing seller. State and federal wildlife agencies and the Coastal Conservancy have already set aside more than $8 million of the estimated $9.5 million needed to acquire and manage this land. Now the choice is up to us. Do we want more houses and another strip mall ---- or to preserve part of what makes this area so special? Local donations from people like you will help leverage the last funds needed, but there is a deadline of Dec. 23.

Contact Preserve Calavera at (760) 724-3887 or visit www.preservecalavera.org. With your help, these priceless resources will be preserved forever.

-- Oceanside resident Diane Nygaard is president of Preserve Calavera, a local environmental nonprofit group.