History of Crestridge Ecological Reserve
Crestridge Ecological Reserve has a rich and documented history as a significant dwelling place for the Kumeyaay Indians. It offered streams, an abundance of plants and animals, and the magnificent Engelmann and Coast Live oaks. Students are transported back to the Kumeyaay experience as they learn the history and invaluable contributions of San Diego’s native american peoples.
Kumeyaay History
The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, one of the remaining 12 bands of the Kumeyaay Indian Nation, resides on a 1,600-acre reservation in the Viejas Valley, east of the community of Alpine in San Diego County, California. The Viejas Band is recognized as a sovereign government by the United States, with which it maintains a government-to-government relationship. Read more...
Recent History
The Crestridge property, also known locally as "Oakridge," was part of a Mexican land grant known as El Cajon de San Diego, or Rancho El Cajon. The original land grant consisted of 48,800 acres, the third largest land grant in San Diego County, and ultimately became the site of El Cajon, Lakeside, Santee, Bostonia, and Flinn Springs.
The land was granted in September 1845 by Pio Pico to Maria Antonia Estudillo de Pedrorena (Aviña 1976).
The Cornelius family owned much of the Rancho south of existing Interstate 8 in the early 20th century and raised beef and milk cows there, mostly on the area that is now an avocado grove and not part of the reserve. Mrs. Cornelius purchased the original water system for Crest from the army camp at Campo. The Cornelius's named the oak grove area "Mary Jane Park," in memory of their daughter who died as a child. Sometime before World War II, Colonel Ed Fletcher bought the "S" Tract of Rancho El Cajon from the Cornelius family. Fletcher used the property as a retreat for his family (Fletcher 1952). During World War II, the area was used by the Searchlight Battalion of soldiers. Mr. Buck Rickles worked for the Ed Fletcher Company, Inc. from 1963 to 1976 and raised his family on the property.
During the late 1970s and 1980s, plans were approved for a residential development of more than 1,350 homes on the site, but the owner eventually went bankrupt. In the 1990s, Gatlin Development (Gatlin) planned to build 92 homes on about 450 acres and to designate about 1,500 acres as open space. This plan was approved by the County of San Diego.
In response to the development proposals, the citizens of Crest formed the Crest Open Space Supporters and the Back Country Land Trust to advocate conservation of the property as open space and incorporation into the MSCP preserve system. The Endangered Habitats League also had a role in assuring conservation of the property.
In 1995, Gatlin established the Crestridge Conservation Bank on approximately 1,100 acres of the property, with the potential to add another approximately 1,400 acres to the bank. At the urging of EHL, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the CDFG, TNC purchased the entire property, and in 1999 the Wildlife Conservation Board purchased the property from TNC. These properties now comprise the Crestridge Ecological Reserve, administered by the CDFG. The California Wildlife Foundation in partnership with EHL will sell mitigation credits, with the proceeds going toward additional acquisitions and an endowment for habitat management on the reserve.
