Ojai, CA 5/12/2026 – The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy (OVLC) is collaborating on an ecological restoration research project aimed at assessing the effectiveness of prescribed burning and broadcast seeding in restoring native species richness and cover, reducing the density of invasive species, and maintaining a healthy ecosystem. The project will also evaluate the impact of prescribed burns on specific target species and investigate the long-term effects of consecutive burns and seeding.

Ojai Valley residents have done an admirable job in planting drought-tolerant gardens to save one of our most precious resources, water. OVLC’s Rewild Ojai Program began as an idea to enhance those laudable efforts by bringing native habitat restoration into private yards to advance meaningful biodiversity goals while still saving water…

While our restoration team spends the summers in willow thickets and alluvial scrub, we dream of a watershed that is freed of the clutches of invasive species. Intentions are set as our calloused feet traverse Eocene cobbles, our dainty palms gather seed, and soft conversation is found muffled by flume. We quickly find that it is not a unique dream, rather one of unquantifiable spirits within our valley, from translucent benthic macroinvertebrates to our neighbors in the community.