Cattle is one reason, but even where cattle has been removed for 50 years, there are still few little oak trees. One experiment involves using cages to exclude predators at various levels, from mice to deer. Other projects at Sedgwick look at how nitrogen moves through soil in areas that have been grazed. So much so that they don't have the luxury of being able to allow greater public use. For now, visitors must be accompanied by docents, and stick to existing ranch roads, experiencing about a third of Sedgwick.
Interpretive trails are in the works.
Although we can't see it, Reynolds tells us that scientists here are experiencing huge problems with grassland restoration. Jim Reichmond's lab is trying to understand what California grassland might have been like by restoring 17 acres here with native grasses. He's also including native gophers to disturb the soils to see how that accounts for the persistence of native grasses. Next we look at sites of dramatic landslides, many of which occurred this year. Buzzing with the morning's food for thought, we eat lunch under the blue oaks in the upper part of Lisque and talk about this unique opportunity created by the partnership of the Sedgwick family, the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, UCSB and the University of California Natural Reserve System .