OVLC recently had the opportunity for an educational field trip to the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over US-101 in Agoura Hills. That impressive project serves as an inspirational reminder of the importance of thoughtful planning for the needs of wildlife and biodiversity. 

At first, moving rocks feels like being a Stone Age human: no words, just grunting and groaning as you jab your rock bar aimlessly at the burdensome behemoth before you, trying to get it to budge. But slowly, an understanding dawns on you, and you realize that your exhaustingly heavy steel bar is a kind of seesaw plank, with you on one end and the behemoth on the other. This revelation gets you talking with your rock-rolling partners, guessing back and forth about where to wedge the bar beneath the behemoth, whether to lever up with a fulcrum, or which corner to row the rock with—and on and on. You blabber through it, struggling to find the right words to make this demanding task a little less impossible. But as the rock begins to roll, precision increases. Movements become easier to predict, placement and leverage more accurate. Before long, you’re back to barely speaking—because now you and your partners are in sync, turning the behemoth as if it were a wheel: the rock the hub, your bars the spokes, and you the force turning it round and round. 

As people start talking about the future of Rancho Cañada Larga, one question is on many minds: what will happen with the cattle? It’s a fair question. These hills have supported cattle for generations, and grazing remains part of the landscape’s identity. Conservation practitioners have learned the hard way that one has to be very thoughtful and deliberate when altering land management practices that have been around since before statehood. Cattle will continue to be part of the picture as the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy studies how best to care for and restore the property’s diverse habitats. To better understand the current operation, OVLC staff sat down with Kim Perkins and his daughter, Sarah Perkins, who have worked cattle here, on and off, for decades. Their story offers a look at the practical work behind grazing and how it might evolve alongside conservation goals in the years ahead.