In November 2021, 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. 

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.” 

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.