We are delighted to introduce OVLC’s next Executive Director, Dan Pingaro, who will officially join the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy on September 15.

Conservation runs on a longer clock than most things. The land we protect this year will outlast all of us, and the choices we make now will shape the Ojai Valley for generations to come. Fiscal Year 2026 brought that long view sharply into focus.

Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of this community, we reached our $7.5 million Land + Legacy Campaign goal. Rancho Cañada Larga, the largest conservation project in OVLC’s history, will be permanently protected and cared for forever. The campaign was never only about acquiring land. It also ensures that OVLC has the capacity to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by Rancho Cañada Larga while maintaining our commitment to exemplary stewardship across all our preserves.

Stewardship is about more than maintaining trails; it’s about building resilient landscapes and healthy communities through consistent, hands-on care. Every season brings new opportunities to learn, adapt, and collaborate, and partnerships play an important role in that work. 

Over the past several months, California Climate Action Corps Fellow Dany Godoy has been working alongside Preserve Manager Linda Wilkin nearly every Friday, supporting stewardship projects across OVLC’s preserves. From caring for stewardship native plantings and nursery work to wildfire resilience planning, vegetation monitoring, and volunteer events, Dany has become an integral part of the stewardship team while gaining firsthand experience in land management. 

Linda recently sat down with Dany to talk about his path into conservation, what stewardship has taught him, and why building wildfire resilience starts long before a fire begins.