Douglas Family Preserve Endowment
Caring for a unique coastal open space
History of the Douglas Family Preserve
The Douglas Family Preserve (DFP) is a near-70-acre public park, part of the City of Santa Barbara parks system, and the largest area of coastal open space within the Santa Barbara city limits. Previously (and sometimes still) known as the Wilcox Property, the DFP figured in a successful and popular public fundraising campaign in the 1990s. “Save the Wilcox Property” bumper stickers were commonly seen on local’s cars as the community pulled together to raise more than $3 million to purchase the property and prevent its development. After the Trust for Public Land purchased the DFP land in 1996, the City of Santa Barbara took on ownership and management of this beloved Mesa-area coastal open space. Actor Michael Douglas, who contributed the largest donation, requested the new park be known from then on as the Douglas Family Preserve.
The DFP’s trails and scenery are its most popular features, with walkers—with and without dogs—traversing the well-maintained trails every hour of the day. Thanks to generous donors, funding for the DFP didn’t end with the community’s purchase of the land. Donations in excess of the land’s purchase price created an endowment for the park’s future care and maintenance.
Continuing a community legacy
The PARC Foundation manages the Douglas Family Preserve Endowment Fund, which we must administer prudently to ensure it continues to be available to keep the DFP in great shape for future generations. When vegetation becomes too wild for walkers to navigate, or as the dirt trails erode with time and use, Parks and Recreation Department staff evaluates what’s needed and proposes maintenance work and improvement projects for the good of the park.
In the past 8 years, $145,000 was directed into projects that removed non-native acacia trees to foster regeneration of the coast live oaks, stabilize three entry trails, and address key erosion areas. In March, 2026, the PARC Foundation approved $150,000 to support the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department’s short term and long term plans for DFP, with a focuses in the next two years on:
Continue and expand vegetation management efforts
Design and install two active restoration sites
Advance public engagement through additional public meetings and expanded volunteer efforts
Initiate planning efforts for long-term public access improvements
A vegetation management schedule will be developed to expand spring defensible‑space work with targeted mowing, weed‑whipping, and hand removal of select non-native annual species. To advance habitat restoration efforts, management of invasive annual grasses will be prioritized in targeted areas and paired with native plantings that can outcompete them.
Looking beyond the two-year planning horizon, long‑term initiatives will be pursued that include designing an ADA‑accessible pathway, implementing a managed bluff‑retreat strategy, maintaining and expanding restoration areas, and strengthening partnerships with agencies, nonprofits, and community groups to support stewardship and habitat enhancement.
Contribute to projects like this one
Unrestricted donations to the PARC Foundation help support the work needed to manage the Douglas Family Preserve Endowment Fund, and donations may be made to the Fund itself if you’re more interested in directly protecting the future of one of Santa Barbara’s most unique, publicly-accessible open spaces.
