Newsletter
Any newsletters should be in this category
REWILD OJAI
Climate change is fueling landscape-scale shifts in our wildlands— the breadth and scale of human impacts across the globe have fundamentally altered plant communities, damaged ecosystems, and fragmented habitats. Reversing these trends requires proactive efforts at all scales, including in the Ojai Valley.
CREATURE FEATURE / NOVEMBER 2022
WESTERN FENCE LIZARD The western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) is one of the most common lizards found throughout the entire range of the western United States. You’ve probably spotted this species at an OVLC preserve, running across the trail or sunbathing on a rock. Often overlooked due to its prevalence in the valley, we might […]
FAREWELL, ALE! ALESSANDRA LUCCHESI — OVLC NURSERY INTERN
OVLC thanks Alessandra (aka Ale) for her many years of hard work in the nursery. She effervesces a love for her community and the land. There is a certain kind of lifestyle in nursery work, in which the rhythms of one’s life sync to that of nature. It is a lifestyle that requires patience, and a kind of passion that transcends the classic summer internship. Ale embodied this completely.
RESTORATION / NOVEMBER 2022
In recognition of her critical role in the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s growth and success, Vivon Crawford has been named Restoration Program Director. We welcomed Vivon as Restoration Program Manager just over a year ago in August 2021. During her time as Restoration Program Manager, Vivon reignited our restoration programs, developed new initiatives, and oversaw staff growth. In just one year, Vivon has secured $1 million in grant funding for climate resilience. Funded projects include the removal of giant reed (Arundo donax) from the Ventura River Watershed, a continuation of oak woodland restoration at the Ojai Meadows Preserve and Ventura River Preserve, and upgrading our nursery to meet the growing needs for native plants in the Ojai Valley.
STEWARDSHIP / NOVEMBER 2022
Well-versed volunteers have been invaluable at Valley View Preserve over the past few months. A substantial amount of work has been underway on the network of trails at the preserve, and all of this incredible work has been made possible thanks to our Volunteer Crew Leaders. Earlier this year, Volunteer Crew Leaders led our trail reroutes on Luci’s Trail, and are spearheading projects on Foothill Trail.
FROM THE DIRECTOR / NOVEMBER 2022
Having spent my professional career in conservation nonprofits, I was deeply moved and encouraged by the Chouinard family’s recent decision to dedicate nearly all of their wealth from Patagonia to conservation and climate advocacy. The stunning news broke in September that the family was giving their company shares to two separate entities: the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective. Together, this represents a truly unprecedented commitment to the company’s mission of being in “business to save our home planet.”
2022 FISCAL YEAR ANNUAL REPORT
Fiscal year 2022 (July 2021-June 2022) proved to be an eventful year for OVLC that can best be summarized as building our resilience at an organizational and community level. Thanks to our generous supporters, OVLC has been able to grow our programs and conservation aspirations for the Ojai Valley. The fading of the Covid pandemic has provided opportunities to start getting together again. We see the few events of last year as being prologue to a much more active schedule moving ahead.
NURSERY UPGRADES
OVLC is expanding and upgrading its Native Plant Nursery at the Ojai Meadows Preserve. Built in 2007 to support restoration efforts at the Ojai Meadows Preserve, the nursery was originally intended to be temporary. However, over the past 15 years the number of OVLC restoration projects and community plant sales have increased. The need for native plants as a means to restore our local ecosystems in the face of climate change is greater now than ever before.
SUMMER FUN FOR INTERNS!
This summer, OVLC had four interns from two different programs working in our Restoration Program alongside our Field Crew! Lauren and Ruby, our interns from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Watershed Stewards Program (an AmeriCorps program) are both early career biologists in the Santa Barbara/Ventura region. Eric and Rosemary were our interns from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Eric is a graduate student at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Rosemary is an undergraduate in geography as part of the Mantell Student Mentorship in Environmental JusticeOur rockstar interns spent the summer hiking on OVLC trails performing plant surveys, conducting field monitoring, processing native seeds, helping with our Rewild Ojai nursery expansion, and of course, weeding, watering, and mulching!
OJAI SADDLE TRAILS / JUNE 2022
Starting in 2017, OVLC has managed the Ojai Saddle Trails which are located on Krishnamurti Foundation of America (KFA) lands, just south of OVLC’s Ojai Meadows Preserve. This partnership has been widely celebrated as a boon for the valley: providing the public with access to additional open space and improved access to the Ojai Meadows Preserve. The KFA allowed public access to a critical trail connection between the Ojai Meadows Preserve and the Ojai Valley Bike Path, and through a beautiful oak woodland at the top of the saddle. In exchange, OVLC was able to provide its wealth of land management experience, care for the trails, perform fire clearance work, and manage use on the land.
CALOCHORTUS ALBUS — FAIRY LANTERN
Sometimes we who walk on two feet forget that the ground beneath us is as alive as we are. It is indeed an expansive land, and when the temperature and water is just right, glad expressions of bulbs below show us the soil’s library. This year I got to witness Calochortus albus, with given names of globe lily or fairy lantern, come to life. In mid-spring, Calochortus albus dripped beneath oak woodland’s dappled light. The flower itself is unlike its gleaming Calochortus sisters (mariposa lily and late-flowered mariposa lily). Shy—a glowing white—the petals twist in three to hold the developing stamen and pistil. They hold close and blush towards the ground.
FROM THE FIELD / JUNE 2022
Holy cow! There are cattle on the Venture River Preserve! No – they aren’t supposed to be there; rather they should be next door on Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) lands
VOLUNTEER PROFILE / JUNE 2022
Anthony Avildsen started volunteering in the midst of Covid. Over the past year and a half, he has logged more than 160 hours of volunteer work and recently became one of our Volunteer Trail Crew Leads. We are proud to highlight Anthony’s contributions to the OVLC, in an interview he had with Land Steward, Linda Wilkin
CREATURE FEATURE / JUNE 2022
This spring, we received several reports of western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) sightings on the trails at the Ventura River Preserve. While western pond turtles are typically found in a variety of freshwater resources, they also rely on suitable terrestrial habitat to search for food, find a mate, lay their eggs, and find a better place to live. The western pond turtle spends upwards of 200 days out of water, and recent studies have even found that they can live out of water for almost 400 days. This is a remarkable feat, but troubling when considering that the western pond turtle is fasting when out of water. This is due to the fact that the western pond turtle must ingest its prey in water because it cannot swallow air. As the climate changes, and prolonged drought coupled with rising temperatures becomes the norm, western pond turtle populations in Ojai are likely to decline.
WELCOME NEW STAFF MEMBERS / JUNE 2022
Join us as we welcome new OVLC staff members Christine Gau and Jonathan LaPearl.
FROM THE DIRECTOR / JUNE 2022
There is a long-standing undercurrent of tension between long-time residents, newcomers, and visitors in Ojai. As a newcomer myself (my wife and I moved to Ojai over two years ago), I have perceived the “oh, you’re a newcomer” perspective. The exurban migration that has occurred over the last several years in Ojai, and other beautiful rural places, has noticeably exacerbated these tensions. As is often the case, these issues often flare up on social media much more forcefully than they ever would in person.
CREATURE FEATURE: February 2022
A member of the flycatcher family, the Cassin’s kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans) feeds primarily on flying insects! They can often be spotted perched atop trees or on wires looking over open spaces in search of their next meal.
GREEN VALLEY PROJECT — STUDENTS HELP WITH RESTORATION AT THE OJAI MEADOWS PRESERVE
Thanks to support from the Green Valley Project, OVLC has hosted several hands-on habitat restoration events at the Ojai Meadows Preserve with environmental science students from Nordhoff High School.
MANZANITA WINTER POLLEN
Look closely at the decisions they make, as the careful branches twist among paths—unseen made known. The orange branches and peeling bark tell a tale millions of years old
FROM THE FIELD / FEBRUARY 2022
Back in July 2021, the OVLC removed several non-native red gum trees (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) from the Ojai Meadows Preserves. We also removed a Peruvian pepper tree (Schinus molle), a Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinensis), and a Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta). We made the difficult decision to remove these non-native trees as part of a larger effort to restore the preserve and help make our community more resilient in the long term.
FROM THE DIRECTOR / February 2022
I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of E.O. Wilson on December 26, 2021 at the ripe old age of 92 years. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to interact with Ed occasionally over the years.
PRESERVING PARKWAY: NEW LAND ACQUISITION OF 28 ACRES
This past November, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy (OVLC) joined in partnership with The Trust for Public Land (TPL) to announce the acquisition of 28 acres located just upstream from the confluence of the Ventura River and Cañada Larga Creek. The property, officially named the Parkway Preserve, will protect and restore critical wildlife habitat along the Ventura River, provide opportunities to mitigate stormwater flooding, and provide neighboring communities with increased access to open space along the Ventura River.
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.
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 / NOVEMBER 2021
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 […]
Please Welcome Our New Executive Director!
The staff and Board of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy (OVLC) are excited to introduce Tom Maloney as our new Executive Director. His background in Economics and Resources Management and Administration, along with 25 years of conservation experience, make him the ideal candidate to lead the OVLC. “We are fortunate that Tom will be joining […]
