BACKGROUND
In November 2000, the 430-acre Fiscalini Ranch Preserve along with
several adjacent parcels, was preserved in perpetuity through a unique
coalition of public and private funding. Thanks to numerous
contributions--including more than $1 million raised by the community of
Cambria--it will remain public open space and recreational land forever. The
Fiscalini Ranch Preserve is a large open-space property that stretches
approximately one mile along the ocean and includes part of Santa Rosa
Creek. It contains habitat important to endangered and threatened species,
including tidewater gobies, steelhead trout, red-legged frogs and Monterey
pines.
It is bordered on the other three sides by Park Hill residences to the
North, the West Lodge Hill neighborhood to the south, and downtown Cambria
to the East. The Fiscalini Ranch Preserve/West is accessible from many
locations in the community. The East side of the Ranch is separated by
Highway 1, which links Cambria to other communities along the coast. The
Fiscalini Ranch Preserve/East is informally accessed at Rodeo Grounds Road
off of Burton Drive.
HISTORY
The Fiscalini Ranch Preserve was first inhabited by native Chumash and
Salinan tribes that thrived in the area, possibly as early as 600 b.c. In
the mid-1800s, the town of Cambria was settled by Europeans. At the turn of
the century, this heavily forested property was cleared for cattle grazing.
Only 70 acres of rare Monterey Pines survived and can still be viewed on the
Ranch ridgeline. In the late 1800s, the Fiscalini family bought the ranch
for cattle grazing and it became known as the Fiscalini Town Ranch. In the
1980s they sold it to a real-estate developer who planned to build a
substantial residential/commercial project on the property. It was sold in
1993 through a bankruptcy auction to another developer with similar plans.
Through the efforts of Friends of the Ranchland, a community organization
formed to preserve the Ranch, the American Land Conservancy came to the
community's aid with the provision that a local group coordinate the
transaction and fundraising. The Foundation for Small Wilderness Area
Preservation helped develop North Coast Small Wilderness Area Preservation (NCSWAP),
a new chapter comprised of Cambrians. This organization partnered with the
American Land Conservancy, the State Coastal Conservancy, CCSD, San Luis
Obispo County, businesses and residents to purchase The Fiscalini Ranch for
$11.1 million in November 2000.
PUBLIC ACCESS TRAILS
The Bluff trail over The Fiscalini Ranch Preserve/ West has been officially
open to pedestrians since the property was purchased in 2000. The trail
underwent significant improvements in 2006, making it completely ADA
accessible. In July 2002, pedestrian and bicycle trails were opened at a
number of other locations on The Fiscalini Ranch Preserve/West. See
locations on the map below. In 2006, the Marine Terrace Trail will also
undergo improvements and will be ADA accessible as well open to bicyclists
and other users.
