[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 25 (Thursday, March 2, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E262-E263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN UPON ITS 80TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LOIS CAPPS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 2, 2006

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to the Santa 
Barbara Botanic Garden board of trustees, staff and volunteers as they 
celebrate the 80th anniversary of the garden. The botanic garden 
provides many different services to the Santa Barbara community, 
including conservation, education and research.
  As an active member of the Center for Plant Conservation, the Santa 
Barbara Botanic Garden is the only organization actively developing and 
maintaining a conservation collection of rare and endangered species in 
the central coast region. Through cooperation with private and public 
resource management agencies, seeds and living plants are collected in 
the wild to represent genetic and geographic variation. These 
conservation efforts are critical to ensuring that the areas of vast 
beauty and great significance are preserved so that our future 
generations may enjoy and learn from them.
  The Botanic Garden has a comprehensive education program that 
includes programs for school groups, various certificate programs and 
excursions to such regions as Anacapa Island and Lake Cachuma. Their 
education program aims to increase our understanding of the role of 
plants in the natural world. Currently, the Botanic Garden co-sponsors 
programs with the Los Padres National Forest, University of California 
Cooperative Extension and the Gevirtz Research Center in the Graduate 
School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 
They also have a relationship with our local schools that ensures that 
our children learn the importance of preserving our natural treasures 
and allows teachers an opportunity to help students learn in an outdoor 
classroom environment.
  Research at the Botanic Garden began in the late 1920s and has 
continued to be innovative and to contribute to our understanding of 
the natural world. Beginning in the 1960s, Dr. Ralph Philbrick (Garden 
Director from 1974 to 1987) expanded the Garden's floristic research of 
the Channel Islands. For over 40 years, Garden surveys and inventories 
have significantly expanded our knowledge of these remarkable offshore 
terrains. As a result, the Garden's herbarium includes over 30,000 
specimens of the Channel Islands' vascular plants and lichens, which 
are consulted by researchers throughout the world. This research on the 
Channel Islands is of particular importance because of its status as a 
National Park which possesses many native plants and animals.
  I am so pleased to be able to recognize all of the hard work of the 
trustees, staff and volunteers as a part of this 80th Anniversary 
celebration. I am privileged to work and live in a community that is so 
physically beautiful and blessed with so many dedicated individuals who 
work tirelessly to maintain the many things that make this area so 
special. Congratulations and happy anniversary!

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