Santa Rosa Island Ranching District Cultural Landscape Report, Channel Islands National Park

Matthews, Laurie; Cox, Eleanor; Lee, Allison; Carlson, Carin; Crane, Heather

The Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) for the Santa Rosa Island Ranching District at Channel Islands National Park is a planning document that helps the National Park Service implement the preferred alternative of the General Management Plan (GMP) by identifying the implementation strategies that meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The CLR builds upon the Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI) prepared in 2021 to identify landscape characteristics and associated features, values, and associations that make a landscape historically significant according to the National Register of Historic Places criteria. Based on this information and site management goals, a CLR outlines appropriate treatment for a landscape consistent with its significance, condition, and planned use. The CLR study area, known as the Santa Rosa Island Ranching District, comprises the entirety of the 84-square mile island. The district is defined by an intricate island-system of buildings (including houses, barns, a schoolhouse, cabins, and a light station), roundups (including corrals and line camps), pastures, fence lines, trails, water features, an air strip, and other development that supported one of the most successful ranches in southern California from the mid-1800s until its closure in 1998. The district is eligible for the National Register under Criteria A (event) and C (design) as an intact 19th and 20th century California sheep and cattle ranch associated with California’s agricultural history, with a period of significance of 1873 to 1970. The ranching district has also been identified as a fundamental park resource in the park enabling legislation. Primary interpretive themes within the park include isolation, restoration and recovery, marine resources, connections, geographic influences, and human attraction to the islands. These themes are considered in the treatment recommendations included in the CLR. As outlined in the GMP, the park’s goals are to restore and maintain natural ecosystems and processes, preserve and protect cultural resources, provide opportunities and access for the public to experience and connect to the park, promote stewardship of park resources, and administer the park efficiently and effectively. This CLR contains five chapters, a bibliography, and two appendices.

Santa Rosa Island Ranching District Cultural Landscape Report, Channel Islands National Park

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