E-News: New Growth on the Ojai Meadows Preserve

By Brian Stark                                                                                                                     Back to E-Newsletter (Summer 2010)

Visitors to the Ojai Meadows Preserve may notice some new activity near the Highway 33 trailheads.  The OVLC is starting a new phase of restoration along the floodway chan that runs through the site to drain water from Maricopa Highway. The project involves planting an additional 500 trees and shrubs to help shade the water, keeping it cool for aquatic creatures. They will also be homes for birds and other wildlife adapted to streamside habitats. Weed removal has been done and the area is ready to plant.  Because we are planting in the warmer…ok…hotter part of the year, we need some extra water. We have built an irrigation system capable of carrying high volumes of water to nurture the plants through their first summer. On the upside, the plants will grow rapidly in the warm months and reduce the area available for weeds to grow next spring.  Later this year, we’ll plant over 1,000 native plants on the channel downstream from the wetland.

Want to get involved?

We need some hardy volunteers to help with the planting and maintenance of these plants through the summer. Volunteering on this project will be a great way to get out in the sunshine with other OVLC-friendly people and make a big difference in the success of our work.  Another fun volunteer activity is helping at the OVLC Nursery at the Meadows Preserve. After lying dormant for a year, the Ojai Meadows Restoration project greenhouse has been re-started with the help of intern Allegra Roth. At the nursery we grow native plants from local cuttings and seeds that will eventually be planted on our preserves.  Restoration work has long been part of the OVLC mission and we have so much to show from our efforts over the last few years. Please contact the office if you would like to be involved, it really does take a community to make these projects successful.