Santa Barbara Island Film Script

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>> SANTA BARBARA ISLAND, IT'S LIKE YOU KIND OF FEEL LIKE YOU'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. IT'S LIKE THIS ROCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN. IT FEELS KIND OF UNINHABITED AND WILD IN A LOT OF WAYS.

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>> SANTA BARBARA ISLAND IS A VERY SMALL ISLAND, THE SMALLEST IN THE CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK. IT'S ABOUT ONE SQUARE MILE. IT HAS NO LAND PREDATORS, WHICH MAKES IT A VERY GOOD SITE FOR SEABIRD COLONIES.

>> ONE OF THE RESOURCE INJURIES THAT WE WERE TARGETING FOR THE MONTROSE PROGRAM IS SEABIRDS AND IN PARTICULAR THOSE SEABIRD SPECIES THAT WERE EFFECTED BY THE DDT AND PCB THOUGH EGGSHELL THINNING.

ONE OF THOSE SPECIES WAS THE XANTUS'S MURRELETS. AND WE KNEW WE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING TO BENEFIT THOSE SPECIES AND THAT THEY WERE IMPACTED BY LOST OFF HABITAT ON THE ISLAND. AND WE WERE INTERESTED IN THE PROJECT THAT WOULD ENHANCE THE BREEDING HABITAT FOR THE MURRELET.

>> THIS IS ONLY ONE OF THE ONLY ISLANDS THAT THEY'RE KNOWN TO NEST UNDER NATIVE SHRUBS, AND SO WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING HERE IS TYING TO RECREATE THAT SHRUB HABITAT WHERE THEY CAN NEST.

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>> THIS SMALL SHADE HOUSE IS OUR ON ISLAND NURSERY. WE GROW ALL OF THE PLANTS THAT WE USE FOR HABITAT RESTORATION ON ISLAND, SO WE COLLECT THE SEED HERE AND GROW ALL THE PLANTS IN THIS LITTLE FACILITY. IT IS A DESERT ISLAND, SO WE BRING ALL OF OUR WATER FROM THE MAINLAND TO WATER THESE PLANTS.

THIS SEASON WE HAVE ABOUT 3,500 PLANTS IN THE GROUND SO FAR, AND WE HAVE A LITTLE LESS THAN 1,000 TO GO. IT TAKES ABOUT SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS TO GROW A MATURE PLANT OUT HERE.

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>> WE'RE USING SANTA BARBARA ISLAND BUCKWHEAT, SILVER LACE, COREOPSIS, AND A COUPLE OF OTHER SPECIES.

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>> WE'RE TRYING TO MIMIC WHAT WE THINK WOULD BE HERE NATURALLY, AND WE'VE COLOR CODED THE FLAGS TO CORRESPOND TO THE INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. SO FOR INSTANCE, PINK FLAGS MEANS PLEASE PUT A BUCKWHEAT HERE.

>> PART OF THE RESTORATION PROJECT OUT HERE IS REALLY DEPENDENT ON VOLUNTEERS AND COORDINATING VOLUNTEERS TO COME OUT AND HELP US WITH THE PLANTING OF ALL THE NATIVE PLANTS AND NESTING HABITAT.

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>> LAST PLANT.

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>> WE JUST GOT DONE PLANTING ABOUT 1,000 PLANTS OF, YOU KNOW, SEVEN OR EIGHT DIFFERENT KINDS OF NATIVE SPECIES. IT WAS QUITE AN AMAZING FEAT OF JUST SHEER LABOR.

>> BY VOLUNTEERING FOR PROJECTS LIKE THIS YOU GET A SENSE OF HOW WHEN A BUNCH OF ENTHUSIASTIC PEOPLE COME TOGETHER, YOU CAN REALLY MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. AND IT'S PRETTY AWESOME WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN ONE DAY.

>> I HAVEN'T WORKED THAT HARD IN YEARS. BUT IT WAS JUST SO FULFILLING AND SATISFYING, YOU KNOW.

>> GREAT TRIP. I CAN'T WAIT TO COME BACK.

>> WE'RE ALREADY SEEING PLANTS SURVIVING AND DOING AND GROWING REALLY WELL FROM LAST YEAR'S PLANTING, AND I THINK WE COULD REALLY SEE SOME RESULTS IN THE NEXT, YOU KNOW, FIVE OR SO YEARS IN SEABIRDS COMING INTO THESE SITES AND USING THEM AS NESTING GROUNDS.

>> AND SO THIS RESTORATION WORK IS DOING GREAT STUFF. WE'RE TRYING TO GET THESE BIRDS BACK AND GIVING THEM THEIR HOME BACK.

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