Catalina Island Conservancy
The Catalina Island Conservancy is a nonprofit organization established to protect and restore Santa Catalina Island, California. The Conservancy was established in 1972 through the efforts of the Wrigley and Offield families. The Conservancy was created when both families deeded 42,135 acres (170.51 km2) of the island over to the organization—88% of the Island.
Founded in 1972, the Conservancy is one of the oldest private land trusts in Southern California. The stated goal of the Conservancy is to "be a responsible steward of our lands through a balance of conservation, education and recreation."
Established to protect and restore Catalina, the Conservancy seeks a balance between conservation and serving the public. Catalina’s native plant community is central to the ecosystem of the Island, providing habitats that offer shelter and food to the Island’s endemic and native animals like the Catalina Island fox, Catalina quail, and bald eagles among many other species. But years of importing non-native plants to feed grazing animals and landscape homes has introduced to Catalina to more than 76 highly invasive plants.
Due to so many efforts in the past to capitalize on the island, many invasive flora and fauna were introduced. The Conservancy removes invasive plants to protect and restore the Island. The Conservancy’s Catalina Habitat Improvement and Restoration Program (CHIRP) is designed to ensure long-term conservation of species richness and habitat integrity in one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots. Three species of highly invasive plants have been nearly eradicated from the Island: tamarisk, pampas grass and fig. CHIRP has targeted 27 other species for eradication and another 36 to be managed to limit their presence on the Island.
By eliminating and managing invasive plant species, the CHIRP program has encouraged native species to grow and flourish. It contributed to the discovery of new species and the rediscovery of species following years of fear that they were extinct. Among those rediscovered are Catalina grass and the Lyon’s pygmy daisy, which had previously not been seen for 80 years. The James P. Ackerman Native Plant Nursery at Middle Ranch provides plant and seed material for re-vegetation of the Island.
The Conservancy also operates the Stop the Spread program, a partnership between the Conservancy’s naturalists, CHIRP staff and the many youth camps on the Island. The program is focused on invasive plant control in and around each camp. It is an opportunity for campers to learn about the value of native species, the problems posed by invasive species and how to help eradicate invasive species. The campers also learn how to restore and improve native environments. Stop the Spread has given nearly 15,000 campers tens of thousands of hours of education from 2009-2013. Campers manage about 450 acres for 75 different invasive species, logging more than 7,000 hours of invasive plant removal a year.
...
Wikipedia