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Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund
Santa Barbara County has
awarded 261 grants for a total of just
over $18 million from its Coastal Resource
Enhancement Fund (CREF). The County
established CREF in 1987 to help mitigate
significant impacts of offshore oil
and gas development to coastal aesthetics,
coastal recreation, coastal tourism,
and environmentally sensitive coastal
resources. In effect, the County awards
grants from CREF to enhance these specific
coastal resources pursuant
to the Board-approved CREF
Guidelines. A
description of these and other grants
can be found in the annual CREF
Status Report.
- Half of these mitigation
funds have been used to acquire
coastal properties or conservation
easements. For example,
CREF helped purchase key bluff-top
properties, such as the Carpinteria
Bluffs, the Douglas property in the
city of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
Shores in Ellwood, and Point Sal near
Guadalupe. It also helped to acquire
properties that protect environmentally
sensitive coastal habitats, such as
Burton Mesa chaparral near Lompoc,
Monarch butterfly foraging habitat
in Ellwood, and the Carpinteria Salt
Marsh.
- Approximately 40% of CREF have been devoted to developing or
improving coastal parks and other
coastal-related facilities such as the Cabrillo Aquarium near
Lompoc, the Dunes Center in Guadalupe, and the Watershed Resource
Center at Arroyo Burro Beach.
- Approximately 6% of CREF monies fall
under Planning
& Research, which mainly includes
preparing master plans for coastal
properties.
- A small portion of CREF has funded educational
projects. Typically a small CREF grant of less than $25,000,
this type of project can have a big impact. Santa Barbara Museum
of Natural History's Los Marineros curriculum, Dunes Center's
many exhibits, and La Purisima Audubon Society's Snowy Plover
video educate students and adults about the fragile marine environment
and the ways to protect it.
Annual cycle
On March 3, 2009, the Board of Supervisors directed Energy Division staff to schedule an item to consider optional uses of CREF in the future. Please contact Kathy Pfeifer, (805) 568-2507 .
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