We’ve learned more about the Rattlesnake Canyon “bench” issue after a June 25 email from Jazmin LeBlanc, assistant director for Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation.
The since-removed bench I photographed for my last column had been approved by the city for an Eagle Scout project, far up Rattlesnake Canyon Trail.
There was no official signage at the bench explaining that the city and LeBlanc had approved the structure, although I certainly do not condone the tidy removal. Both of those events happened without any officials knowing anything, all occurring sub rosa.
I only happened to see the bench while hiking by in early June; the magic bench was built on May 27. It’s a 40-minute hike up to the scenic overview from the trailhead on Las Canoas.
Given the brouhaha over the illegal stonework and construction around the hot springs on nearby Hot Springs Trail, including the very dangerous campfires and tiki torches noticed on that trail, an anonymous new bench appearing high up on heavily used Rattlesnake Canyon Trail perked my interest and suspicion.
There are no other such improvements anywhere along Rattlesnake Canyon Trail, originally meant to be a wilderness-like preserve, not a city park (4.1.1. Telleen-Lawton book).
Over many years hiking in the backcountry, I’ve noticed several fine Eagle Scout projects building sturdy, heavy wooden tables along Manzana Creek (e.g., one by “Dylan Rodriguez”) in the San Rafael Wilderness.
The new Rattlesnake Canyon Trail bench (since removed) is about a 45-minute steep hike up from the ample parking at Skofield Park. The approval of a bench there feels like a significant philosophical change in how Parks & Recreation chooses to administer this 450-acre, pristine, near-wilderness ecosystem.
For example, as Ray Ford tells it in Karen Telleen-Lawton’s comprehensive book “Canyon Voices — the Nature of Rattlesnake Canyon,” “The official name of the location [the Canyon Park] became Rattlesnake Wilderness Recreation Area at the request of the land’s donors in 1970.”
The large wooden sign at the entrance states Rattlesnake Canyon Wilderness Area and heretofore there has been absolutely no construction all the way to the top at either East Camino Cielo/Gibraltar Road — no tables, no benches, no drinking fountains, no first-aid stations, no management.
Do we want to keep it that way? Since the bench came and went, I’ve now encountered bright blue paint and more graffiti on boulders on the way to the former bench site. Great.
On the “Rattlesnake Canyon Rules” sign at the trailhead, the third bullet reads: “Leave no trace and pack out trash.”
This means there aren’t any trashcans or receptacles inside the 450-acre wilderness park, no emergency phones, no AED defibrillator stations and so on; this is by plan. Most dog owners have plastic bags to carry out their canine’s excreta.
The bench has been deemed a “trace” by some, and they quickly removed the bench and the wobbly 4×4 post, leaving just 22 brass wood screws on the ground. Scrawled in black on a nearby rock, my colleagues could just barely read these four words: “RESPECT Chumash Land. Decolonize.”
I appreciate the City of Santa Barbara taking care for the astounding natural resource embodied by the 450-acre Rattlesnake Canyon Park.
Parks & Recreation officials might consider some discussion about just how they want to proceed in managing this huge area outside the urban core of Santa Barbara.
Any new structures should have appropriate governmental signage, making it clear that the city follows some philosophy in developing this wilderness area we all love.
4.1.1.
Click here for my earlier article; Karen Telleen-Lawton, “Canyon Voices — the Nature of Rattlesnake Canyon” (2006), with Ray Ford quoted on page 39.
