Rancho Guejito: For region's future, preserve its past

By: DAN SILVER - For the North County Times | Saturday, January 20, 2007 7:09 PM PST ∞

The 22,000-acre Rancho Guejito in the North County is the stuff of legend. Pronounced "Wah-hito" and meaning "little river," this property is the only intact Mexican land grant left in Southern California. The land was granted in 1845 as the Rancho Guejito y Canada de Palomia, and before that, was of central importance to Native Americans. What makes Rancho Guejito so special is that its scenic, historical, cultural and wildlife values have remained intact for all the intervening generations.

The conservation value of Rancho Guejito is both enormous and irreplaceable. Nestled against the Cleveland National Forest, its vast grasslands, many streams and Engelmann oak woodlands are essential lower elevation habitat needed for a complete ecosystem. Nowhere else in Southern California ---- much less in San Diego County ---- are these unique native landscapes still present on such a grand scale.

Guejito shelters much rare and endangered wildlife, but also those species that simply need "room to roam." For example, if golden eagles ---- a species highly intolerant of human activity ---- are to continue to fly over San Diego, this land must be saved. It is no wonder that scientists at the Conservation Biology Institute have called it San Diego's "conservation jewel."

When the administration of California Gov. Ronald Reagan proposed this land for a state park, it saw the ranch not only as a premier recreational resource but also as perhaps the only chance for future generations to meaningfully relive and experience California's past. The good news is that subsequent private stewardship by the Coates family has preserved the land. Indeed, Nancy Coates ---- widow of Benjamin Coates, who purchased the ranch in 1974 ---- has made clear her desire to honor his memory and the peace he found there. In an interview last year, she said, "We're trying to keep it in a pristine state. We want to keep this as the greatest piece of California property anywhere."

Now, however, we learn the Rodney Co., the entity that controls the ranch, wants to annex it to the city of Escondido and massively develop it with urban uses. What a shortsighted tragedy this would be! It also makes no planning sense. In its draft general plan, the county of San Diego wisely retains the land as "rural," and directs growth to other areas that can be provided with infrastructure and human services cost-effectively. The ranch is nowhere near any "smart growth" area identified by the San Diego Association of Governments.

This misguided development proposal also fundamentally misjudges the political culture of San Diego. San Diegans will not, under any circumstance, now or in the future, accept the loss of the "sense of place" that makes the region so special and worth living in. A county that prides itself on being the "un-Los Angeles" will never sacrifice its finest natural asset ---- the one single place that best embodies its beauty, history and geographic identity.

Now is the time to work together on a "win-win" financial package to implement a conservation and historical vision. For a window of time, sufficient funds are available through habitat planning, watershed and transportation project mitigation programs to provide equity to the landowner. With a willing seller, the ranch could then remain in private hands under a protective easement, or become a park. What matters is that future San Diegans wake up to a world that ---- as described in the Southern California Rancher magazine of November 1944 ---- still contains a magnificent and sun-drenched solitude, unchanged for hundreds of years, stretching as far as the eye can see.

But no one said it better than Nancy Coates. Asked by the North County Times how she would like to see Rancho Guejito look in the future, she looked at the horizon and said: "Like this. How would a young person know what California once looked like, if all you see is houses and more houses?" Sometimes we must measure our wealth by what we can afford to leave untouched.

Dan Silver is executive director of Endangered Habitats League, a Southern California organization dedicated to ecosystem protection and sustainable land use.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.