Charles Perry Eckberg lived a purposeful and good life. He was an Earth Warrior with a kind soul. Born in San Diego on March 6, 1948, he lived most of his life in Santa Barbara. Later, he moved to Joshua Tree and ultimately settled in the Northern California town of McKinleyville.
As a student at UC Santa Barbara, Charlie studied political science during a time of unprecedented global political upheaval. By day, he attended school lectures, and by night, he participated in rallies against the Vietnam War. He witnessed the burning of the Bank of America in Isla Vista and even testified in the court case that wrongly accusing student activists for this political act of arson.
After graduation, he fought fires with the Los Padres Hotshots, where he battled the most significant fires in Santa Barbara at the time, including the Sycamore and Coyote fires.
While living in Isla Vista, Charlie experienced firsthand the inconceivable devastation of the 1969 oil blowout of Unocal’s Platform A in the Santa Barbara Channel. This disaster inspired the birth of the global environmental movement, as well as many leading Santa Barbara–based environmental organizations, several of which Charlie would become involved with, including Get Oil Out! (GOO), the Community Environmental Council (CEC), the Environmental Defense Center (EDC), and Earth Day.
Charlie served 25 years on the GOO Board of Directors and worked closely with its founders, including Bud Bottoms and Henry Feniger. He promoted renewable energy while leading the charge to stop new drilling and called for policies to protect California’s coastline with stricter regulations for the fossil fuel industry. Charlie organized protests, participated with the EDC in legal actions, and produced benefit concerts to support initiatives to give the community more rights regarding the coastline’s resources.
He served as chair of the CEC board for more than a decade, working to make the organization a driving force in establishing Santa Barbara’s highly successful recycling industry. During this tenure, Charlie was instrumental in reinvigorating Santa Barbara’s Earth Day celebrations in 1990, which has remained a flagship event every April since. For many years, he participated on the planning committee and was master of ceremonies several times, occasionally before crowds of tens of thousands. In 1992, he helped produce a sell-out concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl to celebrate Earth Day, including local favorites Jackson Browne, David Crosby, and many others. That same year, the Santa Barbara Independent recognized him as a Local Hero for his volunteerism and dedication to the local community.
While working at Investec Real Estate and volunteering with Santa Barbara’s Green Building Alliance, Charlie helped establish green building standards for the construction industry. When UCSB established the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, Charlie was involved from the beginning, encouraging the university to construct the Bren building to LEED-certified Platinum standards. It became the first such building in the University of California system. Charlie remained an active participant of the Bren School’s Dean’s Council for many years.
Purpose, rather than profit, guided Charlie’s life. His volunteerism included work for the environment, peace, humanity, and animals. He participated in Beyond War, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and the Santa Barbara Peace Resource Center. He promoted permaculture and regenerative agriculture while on the board of the Abundant Earth Foundation and as an editor for Permaculture magazine, North America. As a Wilderness Youth Project board member, Charlie helped immerse young people into the forest. Volunteering with Transition House, he made it easier for unhoused people to get back on their feet. To help wild mustang horses find refuge from government slaughter programs, he chaired the board for the Santa Ynez nonprofit Return to Freedom. With his family, he fostered orphaned raccoons, ducks, and other wild critters until they could be released back to nature through the Wildlife Care Network. His love ran deep for the people and the causes he cared about.
But there was only one real love of his life — for it was love at first sight when Charlie met Kelly. They were married in 1973 and spent the rest of his life together. In 1979, he moved his young family to the Hollister Ranch on the Gaviota Coast, working hard to protect the area. He often played David against the Goliath oil companies threatening the coast. He was instrumental in allowing the Chumash to access and occupy their ancestral sacred lands, known as the Western Gate, just south of Point Conception. The land was slated to become a liquefied natural gas facility. The project was ultimately halted, and today the land remains undeveloped, providing a safe corridor for animals and spirits to pass freely.
However, there was not the same luck a few years later with the battle to stop Chevron’s deadly oil and gas pipeline and processing facility on the Gaviota Coast. During this time, he and Kelly wrote a book, Danger at the Door, to chronicle the community’s fight against the threats and injustices of oil and gas development.
Though he loved the coast, a special place was also held in Charlie’s heart for the unique desert of Joshua Tree. Charlie’s creative activism and gift of bringing people together led to inviting Santa Barbara’s art collective, the Oak Group, to capture the beauty of Joshua Tree on canvas. The paintings were displayed in the Halls of Congress as the Desert Protection Act was being voted on in 1994, ultimately making Joshua Tree a protected National Park.
Later in life, while living in Humboldt County, Charlie became deeply inspired by old-growth forests. He served on the board of Forests Forever and was part of the Lost Coast League. Charlie participated in efforts to save the Rainbow Ridge old-growth forest habitat of the Mattole Watershed from the chainsaws of Humboldt Redwood Company — an effort that continues today. Working closely to support Santa Barbara’s John Perlin in the release of the latest version of Perlin’s book A Forest Journey, Charlie’s editing skills were put to use in sharing the important role forests have played in human culture throughout history.
Some have called Charlie their “environmental conscience,” as his support and inspiration has impacted countless lives. He dedicated his life to fight against injustices to people and the planet and worked hard to promote positive solutions. Charlie always followed the greener path, and with a smile on his face. He had a great gift for making everyone he met feel like a friend and was loved by many. He will be greatly missed, but his legacy is carried on by all who work to defend the Earth and its inhabitants.
Charlie passed unexpectedly of natural causes on January 5, 2025, at his home, in the arms of his wife, two months short of his 77th birthday. He is survived by his wife, Kelly; daughters, Hannah Apricot Eckberg and Heather Summer Turner; son-in-law, Randy Turner; loving pets; and countless friends. He was wrapped in an Earth Day flag as he was cremated.
He will be honored at Santa Barbara’s Earth Day opening ceremony on April 26 at noon in Alameda Park as part of the Eco-Hero Award. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his remembrance to AbundantEarthFoundation.org/donate. A Celebration of Life will be held Friday, April 25, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Carrillo Rec Center in Santa Barbara.
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