Conservancy and gum-chewing

Before reading this, you should go buy a pack of gum, but it must be Wrigley's!

On my recent trip to California, we went to Catalina island, the gorgeous little island 22 miles cross the sea. Upon arriving in the harbor after the rough and bouncy channel crossing, the city of Avalon reminded me of a Mediterranean town surrounded by turquoise water and luscious green coast. While the city was fun to explore and the crystal clear water was pretty to look at, the real beauty of the island is in the interior. It took a trip along the Skyline Drive to the center of the island to realize what Catalina is all about... conservation.

Thanks to wikipedia, I learned that conservation "seeks to protect natural resources including plant and animal species as well as their habitat for the future." It seems like a good idea to me!

The history of Catalina is this:
While many different groups of Native Americans have lived on the island, it was "discovered" by the Spanish in the 1500s and was transferred to Mexico in the 1800s. Thomas Robbins was the first Californian to own the Island, acquiring it from the last Mexican Governor of California. The title bounced around to a number of different owners... one guy even won it in a poker game... until the Banning brothers purchased Catalina in the late 19th century. They wanted to make the Island into a resort and much of Avalon was developed during their ownership. But when William Wrigley, Jr. acquired most of the Santa Catalina Island Company in 1919, he took steps to permanently preserve substantially all of Santa Catalina Island in its natural state. During the next 56 years, various conservation practices were initiated, including much-needed animal controls, protection of watersheds and reseeding of overgrazed areas.

In 1972, the Wrigley's established the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy as a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and preservation of Santa Catalina Island. They could have made so much money off of the island and they chose not to. They could have even made it into a National Park, but they chose not to because the federal government has a history of selling off land when times get tough. I was just so impressed by their dedication to conservancy that I want to encourage Wrigley-gum-chewing!