UCSB's Sedgwick Reserve is Off-Limits to Deer Hunters

Deer-hunting season opens on Saturday, Aug. 12, in many parts of Santa Barbara County, and hunters are reminded that the 5,900-acre Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley is an off-limits, no-hunting zone.

Managed by UC Santa Barbara for the University of California, the reserve is used all year round by university researchers, students, schoolchildren, and others. The potential for a serious accident from any hunting activity at the site is very high.

Violators of the Sedgwick Reserve's ban on hunting face felony prosecution.

The California Department of Fish and Game coordinates efforts to keep poachers off the reserve, in conjunction with the UCSB Police Department, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. UCSB police officers plan to increase their patrols of the reserve throughout the hunting season to protect university facilities and personnel. The deer-hunting season continues through September 24.

The Sedgwick Reserve is one of seven natural reserves managed by UC Santa Barbara. The University of California is responsible for oversight of 35 reserves throughout the state.

For more information concerning the Sedgwick Reserve, contact:

Susan Swarbrick, Associate Director, UCSB Natural Reserve System

phone: (805) 893-4127;

e-mail: nrs-director@nrs.ucsb.edu

For more information about the hunting ban, contact:

Det. Sgt. Daniel Massey, UCSB Police Department

phone: (805) 893-2587; e-mail:

class="underline">dan.massey@police.ucsb.edu