SHAVER, C. Mack
SHAVER, C. Mack
In the News~
June 23, 1992 [VCS]: “$8 million approved for purchasing land. Parcel is on Santa Cruz Island. A request for $8 million to acquire part of the last remaining privately owned parcel of land on Santa Cruz Island was approved by a House Appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Bob Lagomarsino said Monday. The 6,200-acre piece of land, on the eastern end of the island, is owned by the Gherini family of Santa Barbara. One-quarter of the property was purchased from the family in 1990 for $4 million, and the $8 million requested would go toward purchasing two more quarters. Money for the final quarter of land will be sought next year, said Steve Hodapp, who works on Lagomarsino's parks and public lands subcommittee. Mack Shaver, superintendent for Channel Islands National Park, said the goal is to put the National Park's main visitor's center on the eastern end of Santa Cruz Island, and relieve pressure from Anacapa Island. “These funds are urgently needed to protect Anacapa from overuse while allowing visitors to more fully experience the unique flora and fauna of the islands,” Lagomarsino said. Anacapa is the smallest of the Channel Islands at about 2,040 acres, and is also the nearest to the mainland at 11 miles offshore. Santa Cruz Island covers 62,000 acres and is the next closest, about 14 miles offshore. “You can get yourself lost on Santa Cruz,” Shaver said. “You can forget you're on an island.” Shaver said that after the remaining land is purchased, officials intend to build a small pier on the eastern end of Santa Cruz Island, near the adobe Scorpion Ranch. a campground is also in the plans. A privately owned business — Santa Cruz Island Adventures — now flies visitors into Santa Cruz for hunting, hiking, kayaking and camping, Shaver said. Feral sheep are the most popular game sought by hunters, he said. The $8 million was the second largest amount approved by the subcommittee for land acquisition anywhere in the United States, Hodapp said. “We feel pretty positive about this,” he said. “We would have liked to have seen all $12 million, but in reality that was just not possible.” The full House Appropriations Committee will take up the funding request on Monday. Hodapp said it could go before the House in the first week of July, then go to the Senate for approval.”
