Carrizo Plain celebrates 25 years as a national monument, and it’s throwing a party
The Carrizo Plain has been called California’s Serengeti.
That feels like hyperbole. After all there aren’t any lions, leopards or elephants.
But it does have pronghorn, kit foxes and blunt-nosed leopard lizards.
Unfortunately, the giant kangaroo rats aren’t big enough to star in a monster movie.
Perhaps the rarest thing in an increasingly crowded California is that the Carrizo has solitude in abundance.
Turn off the engine of your car after the over hourlong drive from the coast, and often the first thing you hear won’t be human.
Birds singing, the yip of a coyote or wind rustling through grass.
A quarter-century ago this land was named a national monument.
On his way out the door in January 2001, President Bill Clinton did what Congress had twice failed to do, bestow monument status on 204,107 acres of the Carrizo Plain.
This was a promotion from the previous status as “Natural Area,” which had little practical value.
In honor of those 25 years, the Bureau of Land Management planned a public celebration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Guy L. Goodwin Education Center on Friday, April 10.
“The BLM is honored to have played a role in the stewardship of this exceptional landscape over the past 25 years,” said Carrizo Plain National Monument Manager Johna Hurl in a news release.
“Strong partnerships are key to preserving the area’s vibrant wildflower blooms, fascinating geological features, rare species, and unique cultural treasures,” she added. “As we look ahead to the next 25 years, we eagerly anticipate strengthening these collaborations and continuing our commitment to managing the Carrizo Plain for generations to come.”
Monument status has raised the visibility of the region and provided structure for funding for science and recreation.
More people tour the monument than in the days that it was private ranch land.
And every spring there is a drumbeat of questions about the region’s wildflower bloom.
For a deep dive into the settler history of the area, Craig Deutche traces it in the book Another Place & Time, Voices From the Carrisa Plains.
That spelling of the name isn’t a typo. The place is so isolated, at least three versions can be found in common usage: Carisa, Carrisa and Carrizo.
David Sneed wrote this story Jan. 17, 2001, when the monument was created.
Carrizo Plain gets monument status
President’s declaration will keep 204,000 acres free from commercial development
In one of his last acts in office, President Clinton will declare San Luis Obispo County’s Carrizo Plain a national monument today.
The designation will protect nearly 204,107 acres of federal grassland in the southeastern corner of the county from oil, gas and real estate development and promote the area’s natural and cultural features, U.S. Rep. Lois Capps announced Tuesday.
“Carrizo is a local and national treasure,” Capps said. “It contains remnants of the once vast San Joaquin grasslands, significant Native American cultural sites like the Chumash Painted Rock, and the most visible portion of the San Andreas Fault.”
Capps, D-Santa Barbara, tried to protect the area by introducing legislation that would establish the Carrizo as a national conservation area. The bill had the support of Bakersfield Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, but it failed to gain enough backing to pass.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt then recommended national monument status for the plain as a way to protect the area. The designation will be made under the Antiquities Act, which gives the president broad powers to protect areas with cultural and environmental significance.
Babbitt toured the Carrizo Plain in March 1999 and then visited Cal Poly in November of that year to discuss ways to manage the area.
Environmentalists praised the designation, noting that the Carrizo Plain contains the greatest concentration of endangered species in the state, including the San Joaquin kit fox, giant kangaroo rat, blunt-nosed lizard and California jewel flower. It is also an important wintering site for sandhill cranes.
“Carrizo Plain is a sweeping landscape that has all but disappeared in California,” said Holly Slettland, conservation chairwoman for the Sierra Club’s local Santa Lucia Chapter. “I’m glad to see that this is one place where it will remain forever.”
Although some ranchers in the area have criticized federal protection of the plain because it might hinder local land-management decisions, Capps said she hopes the Carrizo will become a model for cooperative resource management and innovative uses of cattle grazing to benefit wildlife. The Bureau of Land Management will oversee the monument with the help of locals, according to Capps.
“I am pleased that the monument designation appears to follow the outlines of my bill and that the secretary will direct BLM to establish a local advisory board,” she said.
Clinton also is expected to designate four other sites as national monuments today at Babbitt’s recommendation. These include the Upper Missouri River Breaks in Montana, the Pompeys Pillar area of the Yellowstone River in Montana, the Virgin Islands Corral Reef near St. John and an expansion of the Buck Island Reef National Monument off St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Carrizo Plain: A few key facts
Geology: The plain was formed 30 million years ago when movement along faults caused the area to subside, forming a basin as the Temblor and Caliente mountains were thrust upward. Over the eons, the valley filled with sediment forming the plain.
Endangered species: The plain is home to the highest concentration of rare or endangered plants and animals in the state, including the San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard and the giant kangaroo rat.
Allowable land uses: The main uses are recreation and limited cattle grazing.
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
