$100K in federal funds slated to restore ecosystem in Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park is earmarked to receive nearly $100,000 in federal funding for ecosystem restoration on Santa Cruz Island, the Biden Administration said Thursday.
The grant will come from the administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will invest $1.4 billion for such projects nationwide over the next five years.
The rehabilitation work on Santa Cruz, one of five islands off the Ventura coast that comprise the park, will be done in partnership with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
"This investment in this project will rehabilitate and improve safety on trails, and it will also protect priceless cultural and natural resources," Bryan Newland, the administration's assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, said Thursday at a news conference at the park's visitors center in Ventura.
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The Channel Islands "are the sacred homelands of the Chumash people," he said. "And it's critical that the tribe and Chumash people be included in the park's work as we continue to protect and restore."
Under a task agreement, the Santa Ynez Band's Fire Department will work on the trail construction and their Cultural Department on the protection of the resources.
Reggie Pagaling, a Santa Ynez Band tribal elder and vice chair of the Native American Heritage Commission, said after the news conference that the funding is "just a beginning, but it's a step in the right direction."
Dayna Barrios, who is Ventureño Chumash and is the vice chair of the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians, said she too welcomed the funding.
"Anytime the federal government works with tribes, I always think it's a positive thing," she said. "These are our lands and a lot of our ancestors are out there as well.
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"So, we want to make sure that we have a voice in this project," she said.
Park Superintendent Ethan McKinley said the trail restoration phase of the project should start by the end of the year.
Mike Harris covers the East County cities of Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, as well as transportation countywide. You can contact him at mike.harris@vcstar.com or 805-437-0323.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Channel Islands National Park gets $100K federal grant to restore ecosystem
