“Put your hand out,” said Violet Sage Walker with an inviting smile. A wet hunk of muscle began squirming on my palm at the abalone farm on Dos Pueblos Ranch, which Sage Walker sees as an essential element in the future stewardship of the ranch by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council. As chair of the council, Sage Walker and her council are in the middle of buying the historic Dos Pueblos Ranch and its other assets for $62 million. But first, they must raise $45 million by January.
“You have to hold one to love one,” she said, indicating the young abalone in my hand, an ethos that underlies Sage Walker’s intentions for Dos Pueblos Ranch — to bring people into contact with the bucolic ranch, and to feel the urge to safeguard its rare coastal beauty. “If people can enjoy something, they will want to protect it,” she said.
Sage Walker’s goal is to combine scientific research with education for children and adults at the 219-acre property on the Pacific Ocean, just a few miles outside Goleta. Ultimately, she wants to create meaningful, tangible opportunities for the tribe. “We are the ones who know how to take care of the land. We are the ones who can restore the balance,” she said. “Let’s bring the steelhead back. Native people are doing that.” Those goals are not unlike those held by the current owner.
In 2022, Humpty Dumpty Rancho Dos Pueblos — an LLC owned by developer Roger Himovitz and some partners — purchased the property for more than $40 million, which Himovitz said included numerous parcels, equipment, assets like the abalone farm, and permits he bought over a 15-month period. The asking price of $65 million takes in costs over the past four years. He established the Dos Pueblos Institute to bring outdoor agriculture classes and Chumash ceremonies back to the land. Then earlier this year, Himovitz, who is in his eighth decade of life, decided to contact the Northern Chumash…