Nathan Wickstrum
CREATURE FEATURE
Beep! Beep! You might know the greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) from the classic Looney Tunes cartoon and how the character Road Runner always seems to run faster than Wile E. Coyote; but this isn’t the case in real life. In fact, coyotes can run up to 43 miles per hour, while the greater roadrunner clocks in at a top speed of 26 miles per hour.
VOLUNTEER PROFILE: STUART NIEBEL — OVLC DOCENT
Stuart Niebel has been an Ojai Valley Land Conservancy (OVLC) docent since 2012, and has led dozens of tours on our preserves, including guiding hundreds of local school children. We hope you will consider becoming a docent too. Don’t worry if you think you don’t have the knowledge base – Stuart has created extensive docent manuals for the Valley View Preserve, Ventura River Preserve, and Ojai Meadows Preserve! We are proud to highlight Stuart’s contributions to the OVLC, in an interview he had with Land Steward, Linda Wilkin.
NEW BENCHES AT THE VENTURA RIVER PRESERVE
If you have visited the Ventura River Preserve in the last couple months, you may have noticed some new and enticing places to sit. Specifically, some fine, hand-crafted redwood benches. We’re at long last replacing benches lost in the Thomas Fire and installing new memorial benches too.
New Acquisition: Parkway Preserve
The Trust for Public Land and the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy announced today the protection of 28 acres adjacent to the Ventura River, preserving critical wildlife habitat and land for outdoor recreational use for the community of Ventura.
2021 FISCAL YEAR* ANNUAL REPORT
June 30, 2021 marked the end of our first full fiscal year since we changed our fiscal year to start in July. OVLC also restructured our accounting and simplified our chart of accounts. As a result, the staff and board have a deeper understanding of the role that each program plays in OVLC’s financial condition. In particular, these changes provide comprehensive insights into the costs of stewarding the preserves, and help OVLC plan for new acquisitions and budget for preserve improvements.
TRAMPLE TRAILS: HELP US PROTECT THESE LANDS FOR YOU
There are more and more unsanctioned trample trails popping up all over OVLC preserves, and they are a problem. Some of these trails (like the trample trail pictured to the right) are clearly there because trail users just have to know what is around the bend. You are not a cat. Do not let curiosity overwhelm your faculties. In this regard, we want to assure you, OVLC is not hiding a secret oasis or Garden of Eden. If there is a beautiful spot or stellar vista, we already guide you there!
THE SEED COLLECTOR
There are many lessons learned when the days are spent with plant and animal folk—a literacy of some ancient hum that this unseasoned human must learn. On the fall day before rain this early October—unbeknownst to me—the acorns were ready.
WELCOME NEW STAFF MEMBERS
Our OVLC family is growing! We’re excited to announce three new staff members: Vivon Crawford, Adam Morrison, and Lisa Nix.
FROM THE DIRECTOR / NOVEMBER 2021
Local conservation organizations like OVLC struggle with how to address the global phenomenon of climate change. What can a small group do to ameliorate threats that affect the very things that we are trying to save but are governed by global scale factors? The discussion can focus on mitigation versus adaptation and resilience. Mitigation comes in the form of investing in forests and other natural systems that effectively store carbon for hundreds of years. Adaptation and resilience measures seek to protect and enhance the local ecosystems in response to anticipated changes. Sometimes, the best approach is both.
Fall Native Plant Sale 2021
This year’s Fall Native Plant Sale is being hosted in-person on October 30 from 9am to 12pm at our Ojai Meadows Preserve Native Plant Nursery. We will be selling some of our favorite drought tolerant plants and a variety of wildflower seeds collected from the preserves for you to grow at home in your garden. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to bring the beauty of the preserves to your yard!
Mountainfilm on Tour 2021 – Thank you!
A huge thank you to everyone who came out to the Steelhead Preserve this past weekend for our 7th annual Mountainfilm on Tour. The capacity size was smaller this year, but thanks to your support, the event was a huge success and we are incredibly grateful for everyone involved in making Mountainfilm on Tour 2021 happen!
UNDER THE OPEN SKY – PADDLE RAISE
Thank you for attending our Mountainfilm on Tour and Under the Open Sky at the Ventura River Steelhead Preserve. Friday night’s paddle raise was wildly successful and we are incredibly grateful for your support. If you didn’t have a chance to donate during the paddle raise, you can help us continue to protect and restore the lands we all love by using the donate box below:
OVLC VIRTUAL AUCTION
In support of our Mountainfilm on Tour events, we are hosting a virtual auction from September 17-27. The auction is open to the public (no Mountainfilm on Tour ticket purchase required) and featured items include a six-night stay at a 15th-century Tuscan hilltop house, a tour of the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve, a Fletcher Chouinard Designs surfboard, marketing from Fionna Hutton & Associates, local Airbnb’s, and a whole lot more.
Temporary Forest Closure & What This Means For OVLC Adopted Trails
Forest Service trails adopted by OVLC will be closed effective 8/31/21 at 11:59 p.m. More than 6,800 wildfires have burned a total of 1.7 million acres across all jurisdictions in California, and the National Wildfire Preparedness Level (PL) has been at PL5 since July 14, 2021; only the third time in the past 20 years […]
VOLUNTEER PROFILE
Dave Fleischman started volunteering for OVLC two years ago. Today, he has increased his volunteer involvement with the organization by taking on maintenance of volunteer tools and becoming a volunteer trail crew leader. OVLC Land Steward, Linda Wilkin, sat down with Dave to talk about his time working on trails and volunteering with OVLC. Here’s what Dave had to say:
OAK RESTORATION AT THE OJAI MEADOWS PRESERVE
On June 20 and 21, OVLC hired The C.R.E.W. to remove 7 non-native trees at the Ojai Meadows Preserve as part of a greater conservation effort to restore oak woodlands and savannas in the Ojai Valley.
JESSE GRANTHAM: FAREWELL TO AN OJAI LEGEND & AVIAN EXPERT
Former Board member and dedicated OVLC volunteer Jesse Grantham and his wife Trina have moved to North Carolina to be closer to their grandchildren. Longtime Ojai residents and OVLC supporters know Jesse as the local authority on all things avian. Perry Van Houten wrote a lovely and fitting tribute to Jessie in the Ojai Valley News on April 23, 2021.
CREATURE FEATURE / JULY 2021
OVLC has recently received some new tenants on its Ventura River Preserve. Coyotes (Canis latrans) have been seen displaying territorial behavior near some parts of the river due to a nearby den. Coyotes mate between January and March, and females usually give birth to 4-7 pups after a gestation period of 58-65 days.
RESTORATION / JULY 2021
OVLC Restoration Field Crew has recently gained a new member, Sophie McLean, to help out with field tasks and nursery management. She has a degree in Plant Biology and is excited to exchange her knowledge with OVLC Nursery Manager, Ron Singer.
NURSERY INTERNS
You may have noticed some new voices on our social media the last few weeks. Thanks in-part to a generous grant from the Rotary Club of Ojai, we have two interns from Nordhoff High School: Alessandra (Ally) Lucchesi and Corallyn Moss. They will be assisting OVLC Nursery Manager, Ron Singer, in growing and caring for the thousands of plants that the OVLC uses annually in restoration projects.
MEET LINDA WILKIN: OVLC LAND STEWARD
We are excited to formally introduce Linda, OVLC’s new Land Steward and botanist extraordinaire! Linda’s love for plants has given her a breadth of experience in farming, habitat restoration, and nursery work. These days, she is putting her experience and passion toward protecting OVLC’s open spaces. For the last eleven months, Linda has been out in the field engaging with preserve users, dealing with fires at the Ojai Meadows Preserve, fixing kiosks and trail signage, and more recently leading volunteer events.
FROM THE DIRECTOR / JULY 2021
Between the year and a half of pandemic-constrained life and California’s extreme drought, one could be excused for suffering from a grim outlook. However, we at OVLC see reasons to have optimism beyond the slowly abating (at least locally) pandemic.
Trail User Etiquette
Due to an increasing interest in outdoor recreation, OVLC trails are receiving more traffic than ever before. OVLC trails are primarily multi-use trails, open to equestrians, mountain bikers, and hikers/runners. Please be courteous to other users, share the trail, and follow these guidelines when you are using OVLC trails:
Why Oak Trees?
Every year OVLC plants hundreds of oak trees. These oak trees help the Ojai Valley become resilient to a changing climate. The oaks we plant today start off small and fragile, but with time they will become majestic towering oaks that define Ojai’s landscapes. Restoring our lands back to oak woodlands has a myriad of benefits for our […]
Aggressive Coyotes on OVLC Preserves
We have received multiple reports of coyotes acting extremely aggressive toward users in the vicinity of the Old Baldwin Road Trailhead and the lower Ventura River Preserve trails. In both incidents, hikers had large dogs with them and the coyotes aggressively and persistently threatened them
CREATURE FEATURE
Have you noticed all of the beautiful bluebirds flying around the Ojai Meadows Preserve? The Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) is one of our local residents that we are lucky to have year-round here in Ojai.
JOIN OUR ADOPTER PROGRAM!
Wish you could volunteer on your own schedule? Now you can! We’re very excited to announce that with funding from the Ojai Women’s Fund we are starting our Volunteer Adopter Program. This will help us maintain our 27 miles of trails and our oak woodland restoration sites. Individuals will be able to take on responsibility for a section of trail on our various preserves (Trail Adopters) or several oak restoration circles on the Ventura River Preserve (Restoration Adopters). Join our new Adopter program!
RESTORATION / MARCH 2021
If you walk in the Ojai Meadows Preserve, you may have noticed burned areas scattered throughout the preserve. The Ventura County Fire Department believes that each of these fires was intentionally started, and is investigating further.
STEWARDSHIP / MARCH 2021
Lately, the iconic switchbacks on the hillside with the water tank are being short cut and a new trail is forming, following the ridge Luci’s Trail meanders up.
More Than Just Your Pretty Views
From almost anywhere in Ojai, you can look out at the undeveloped hillsides and know you are home. In addition to conserving Ojai’s scenic backdrop, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s protection and restoration of land has a myriad of benefits that go beyond beauty. The diverse and rich habitats that thrive in these open spaces provide the following essential ecosystem services that increase our resilience to a changing climate.
FROM THE DIRECTOR / MARCH 2021
If you have recently driven down Santa Ana Road, you may have noticed a small herd of goats grazing the fields at OVLC’s Ventura River Steelhead Preserve.
Adventure+ Film Tour 2021
The OVLC is teaming up with Adventure+ to bring you four virtual film tours. The Vertical Life Film Tour, available May 14-22, is an all new climbing film tour originated in Australia. The tour has been created and conceived by the team behind Vertical Life Magazine to celebrate the relaunch of the Magazine following COVID-19 hibernation and will make its North American debut in with a theatrical and virtual release on May 14, 2021.
MEET YOUR OVLC STAFF
While OVLC copes with elements of the new normal of the pandemic, we are encouraged by the recent staff changes, and look forward to coming through this strange time stronger than ever. Keep your eye out for Linda, as well as our restoration crew, and if you see them out on a preserve, please feel free to introduce yourself and say hello!
VOLUNTEER PROFILE
Over the years, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy has had many outstanding volunteers. Rob Young is one of them. He has been instrumental in many projects throughout the preserves, yet his leadership and commitment shined even brighter in his work on the construction of the Allan Jacobs trail and bridge. We would like to thank Rob for his years of volunteering and dedication to the OVLC. Volunteers like him and countless others are instrumental to our success protecting the preserves’ open spaces and trails. Rob was generous to take some time to talk to OVLC Land Steward, Linda Wilkin, about his experience volunteering and the building of the Allan Jacobs bridge.
CREATURE FEATURE
Have you been out on the trails and seen an unidentifiable flash of pink go by? It was likely a red coachwhip (Coluber flagellum piceus). These beautiful, fast snakes are one of the most cryptic snakes in Ojai.
THE GREEN VALLEY PROJECT
The Green Valley Project (GVP) is an environmental initiative led by The C.R.E.W. in partnership with Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, Once Upon a Watershed, Pax Environmental, and Watershed Progressive.The GVP plans to restore ecosystems in the Ojai Valley over the next 20 years, so they can provide habitat for abundant wildlife and improve Ojai’s resilience to drought, fire, and climate change. Principal funding comes from a generous multi-year grant from the Cotyledon Fund, a private donor-advised fund. The partners are also committed to raising support from community donors, and state and local grants.
2020 FISCAL YEAR* ANNUAL REPORT
* FY 2020: October 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020 In 2019, the OVLC Board chose a new auditor in its efforts to further improve internal controls after the unfortunate embezzlement in 2019. As we had hoped, that firm was extraordinarily detailed in the preparation of our Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 audit, which took until […]
Restoration / December ’20 OJAI MEADOWS PRESERVE SOUTH CHURCH FIELD
OVLC field crew has been hard at work controlling weeds. One area in particular that has changed dramatically in the last year is what the OVLC calls the South Church Field at the Ojai Meadows Preserve.
Stewardship / December ’20
In March, with the Allan Jacobs Bridge nearly complete, it was time to plan our next projects for our volunteer trail program. We decided to turn our attention to the three trails the OVLC adopts from the Los Padres National Forest: lower Gridley Trail, lower Pratt Trail, and Foothill Trail. With this goal in mind, […]
FROM THE DIRECTOR / December ’20
It has been said that the only constant is change, and like our society at large, 2020 has been a year of change at OVLC. In addition to the staff changes detailed on page 4 of this newsletter, the organization has a newly streamlined mission statement, a new July 1 fiscal year, and a new […]
OVLC TRAIL MANAGEMENT
The OVLC’s mission is to protect and restore the open space, wildlife habitat, watersheds, and views of the Ojai Valley for current and future generations. Due to a number of factors, many land trusts do not allow public access on their lands. One significant factor concerns the fact that recreational trails can impair habitat values […]
Construction of the Rice Canyon Canal Bridge: A Photographic Chronology
We have worked hard over the last two and a half years to ensure the Rice Canyon Canal Bridge, which crosses over the Robles Diversion Canal, would be reborn from the ashes once again after it burned in the Thomas Fire in 2017. However, unlike its last two predecessors that were constructed of wood, the […]
Raffle Prizes Mountainfilm on Tour 2021
Thank you for coming to Mountainfilm!
Preorder Food & Save the date: Mountainfilm 2020 September 18-20.
Virtual Mountainfilm on Tour 2021
The in-person showings of Mountainfilm on Tour are all old out, but the tour is not over, folks! From October 1-3, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy is teaming up with Mountainfilm on Tour to bring the original films of the annual festival in Telluride, Colorado to your streaming devices at home. It’s a film festival experience like you’ve never experienced before, and we can guarantee it will be cozy!
Mountainfilm on Tour: Film Program
The following film program will be shown on September 23, 25, 26 and virtually October 1-3 for OVLC’s Mountainfilm on Tour. The Under the Open Sky program is a different set of films being shown on September 24
OVLC Store
We’re proud to offer the highest quality, most unique merchandise on the market today. From our family to yours, we put lots of love and careful attention in each item. We hope you enjoy our work as much as we enjoy bringing it to you.
All purchases support OVLC’s mission to restore and protect the open spaces, wildlife habitat, watersheds and views of the Ojai Valley for current and future generations.
Let’s Talk Trash
We’ve tried different tactics to mitigate the trash issue including closing trash bins at trailheads, removing the trash bins all together, and asking users to pack out their own trash. From comments we’ve seen online there seems to be a misconception of what it means to pack it in, pack it out. Learn about how you can do your part to keep the preserves clean.
Rice Canyon Canal Bridge is complete, but we need your help to pay for it
The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally come to fruition. The Rice Canyon Canal Bridge is officially complete! The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, in partnership with the Casitas Municipal Water District and Bureau of Reclamation, has worked hard over the last two and a half years to ensure the Rice Canyon Canal Bridge, […]
