Bringing Back the Wild: Coal Oil Point Reserve (2015)

SANTA BARBARA IS GRACED WITH AN OASIS OF NATIVE WILDERNESS SURROUNDED BY URBAN AREAS. THIS IS THE INSPIRING STORY OF THE RESTORATION AND NATURAL HISTORY OF COAL OIL POINT RESERVE, A NATIVE WETLANDS AND PRECIOUS COASTAL-STRAND ENVIRONMENT WHICH IS HOME TO THE THREATENED WESTERN SNOWY PLOVER AND TIDEWATER GOBY. AFTER A DECADE OF CARE BY UCSB RESERVE DIRECTOR CRISTINA SANDOVAL, THE SNOWY PLOVER IS BREEDING AGAIN AND THE PROTECTED AND YET ACCESSIBLE RESERVE HAS ATTRACTED MYRIAD BIRDS AND BIRDERS, RESEARCHERS AND NATURE ENTHUSIASTS. IN CONTRAST TO ONGOING TRAGEDIES OF HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION, THIS FILM REVEALS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE BEHIND THIS SUCCESSFUL RESTORATION PROJECT AND HOW THEY HAVE INVITED THE PUBLIC TO BOTH RESPECT AND ENJOY IT.