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Hollister Ranch: The Last Beach in Southern California

The fight for one of the most unique places on the California coast raises fundamental questions about ownership, ecology, and public space; and the public has an especially important role to play in answering them. The articles in this series offer a portrait of “one of the last undeveloped coastal areas in California” and “site of some of the oldest known human settlements” in the Americas, which is now a battleground in a fight for the future of the California coast and of access to public lands.

 Waves crashing against rocks off Hollister Ranch land. | Gevork Mkrtchyan
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Rocky beach near Hollister Ranch.
In the latest chapter of a 40-year battle over who gets access to the California coast, the tides could be turning in favor of the public; but not without a fight from private landowners.
Aerial view of coastline at Hollister Ranch. | Gevork Mkrtchyan
A legal fight at Hollister Ranch could have lasting implications on the future of public access to the California coast.
Aerial view of the 101 turning at Gaviota State Park. | Gevork Mkrtchyan
While Hollister is less developed than other places, calling this part of the coast “undeveloped” or “untarnished” or “pristine” fails to recognize its complex history of ownership and use.
Gelatin silver photograph of Point Conception circa 1906. | Geo. R. Lawrence Co. via Library of Congress
A timeline exploring the history of the human presence at Hollister Ranch, plus the changing and contested claims to that land. 
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