Research Center Opens Door to Wide Outdoors

Deep in South County, where the subdivisions end, New California suddenly turns to Old California off Grey Rock road.

The abrupt transition from tract homes to wild land occurs at the property line of Starr Ranch Sanctuary -- 4,000 acres of coastal sage scrub, chaparral and oak woodland that belong to the National Audubon Society.

For decades, the preserve existed like a recluse, visited only by a handful of scientists willing to hike, when a dirt road was impassable, six to eight miles with their equipment through Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park. The public was welcome to spend a day there every few years.

All that has changed. Since the late 1990s, under local and national initiatives by the Audubon Society, Starr Ranch has steadily added outdoor activities and educational programs to bolster its research agenda. Today, the number of visitors -- including scouts, students and adults -- approaches 4,000 a year.

“We are opening our doors a lot,” said Sandy DeSimone, the sanctuary’s research director, who has helped to manage the ranch for 18 years. “One of the goals of Audubon is to create a culture of conservation.”

Drawing on the words of ecologist Stephen Jay Gould, DeSimone added: “People don’t save what they don’t love.”

Judging from its surroundings, there is much to love about Starr Ranch. The sanctuary is bordered on three sides by immense stretches of wilderness, including 60,000 acres of the Cleveland National Forest and 7,000 acres of Caspers Park.

The preserve has more than 70 species of birds, including threatened California gnatcatchers, yellow-rumped warblers, Western scrub-jays and dark-eyed juncos. There are hawks and seven types of owls.

Mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, foxes and skunks roam its meadows and hills, which are filled with coastal sage scrub, bunchgrass, coast live oak, sycamores and chaparral.

The ranch’s office, living quarters and research facilities are scattered along Bell Canyon Creek.

The property was owned for 36 years by Eugene Grant Starr, a Los Angeles oilman who used the ranch as a retreat and hunting preserve. In 1973, a decade after his death, a foundation set up by his family donated 4,000 acres of the 10,000-acre holding to the Audubon Society.

Today, it is one of 100 nature centers and sanctuaries operated by the organization worldwide. The conservation group plans to establish 20 such preserves in each state.

Because of its setting, Starr Ranch has become one of the most popular sites in Southern California for environmental research. The preserve has been the base for more than a dozen major projects by universities and public agencies, some for as long as 20 years.

Now under study are ways to eradicate voracious weeds, such as the artichoke thistle, without chemicals; how animals behave at the edge of urban development; and the long-range impacts of fire on open space, which will help determine whether expensive reseeding is worthwhile.

In 1998, ranch officials decided to supplement their research program with periodic activities for the public. Monthly docent-led bird-watching tours began, and open houses became annual events.

Four years ago, the sanctuary started its educational efforts, which include field ecology courses for students and the “junior biologist” program for young children. Earlier this month, 38 chemistry students from Trabuco Hills High School participated in the sanctuary’s field ecology program.

“A lot of people don’t even know this place exits,” said Jay Camiling, who brought his class to the sanctuary. “Students need to see real-world applications of science. Otherwise, it’s all abstraction.”

Throughout the day they divided into classes dealing with water quality, bats and predatory mammals, such as mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes.

They sampled water from Bell Canyon Creek, analyzed animal scat and hiked into the hills to find out what mammals had visited scent stations set out by preserve biologists. A scent station contains a smell attractive to animals; the lure is set in the middle of a powder-like material where tracks are recorded.

“This is a nice day off from school,” said Jordan Globerson, a Trabuco Hills 10th-grader, who had identified bobcat and coyote tracks left at several stations. “It’s better than the Discovery Channel.”