Tag: Ventura River Preserve
Flood Damage Assessment: Ventura River Preserve
Damages to trails and infrastructure at Valley View Preserve have been completed. The following report provides a brief summary of our reconnaissance.
CALOCHORTUS ALBUS — FAIRY LANTERN
Sometimes we who walk on two feet forget that the ground beneath us is as alive as we are. It is indeed an expansive land, and when the temperature and water is just right, glad expressions of bulbs below show us the soil’s library. This year I got to witness Calochortus albus, with given names of globe lily or fairy lantern, come to life. In mid-spring, Calochortus albus dripped beneath oak woodland’s dappled light. The flower itself is unlike its gleaming Calochortus sisters (mariposa lily and late-flowered mariposa lily). Shy—a glowing white—the petals twist in three to hold the developing stamen and pistil. They hold close and blush towards the ground.
FROM THE FIELD / JUNE 2022
Holy cow! There are cattle on the Venture River Preserve! No – they aren’t supposed to be there; rather they should be next door on Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) lands
Stewardship Hike with Brendan Taylor
Take advantage of this opportunity to hike with our Director of Field Programs, Brendan Taylor. The hike will be roughly 5.5 miles long and includes hiking a trail that is in the works to become an official OVLC trail in the near future. On this hike, Brendan will discuss the planning process that goes into making a trail official, along with answering any questions you might have about land management, stewardship, and preserve use. All you need to bring is your curiosity, water, hiking shoes, and sunscreen.
NEW BENCHES AT THE VENTURA RIVER PRESERVE
If you have visited the Ventura River Preserve in the last couple months, you may have noticed some new and enticing places to sit. Specifically, some fine, hand-crafted redwood benches. We’re at long last replacing benches lost in the Thomas Fire and installing new memorial benches too.
Aggressive Coyotes on OVLC Preserves
We have received multiple reports of coyotes acting extremely aggressive toward users in the vicinity of the Old Baldwin Road Trailhead and the lower Ventura River Preserve trails. In both incidents, hikers had large dogs with them and the coyotes aggressively and persistently threatened them
Construction of the Rice Canyon Canal Bridge: A Photographic Chronology
We have worked hard over the last two and a half years to ensure the Rice Canyon Canal Bridge, which crosses over the Robles Diversion Canal, would be reborn from the ashes once again after it burned in the Thomas Fire in 2017. However, unlike its last two predecessors that were constructed of wood, the […]
Let’s Talk Trash
We’ve tried different tactics to mitigate the trash issue including closing trash bins at trailheads, removing the trash bins all together, and asking users to pack out their own trash. From comments we’ve seen online there seems to be a misconception of what it means to pack it in, pack it out. Learn about how you can do your part to keep the preserves clean.
From the Field / June ’20
Used baby diapers, empty beer cans, human feces, and punctured flotation devices have no place on the preserves. Similarly, the OVLC is very conscientious in where it places trails, trying to minimize the environmental impact of our presence in nature, yet every day we find new trails down to the river. At this time in […]
What’s In Bloom? Spring ’20
Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea) Unlike other sages, it’s the only native sage with reddish-pink flowers, and instead of behaving like a shrub, it grows from rhizomes and forms dense colonies that provide wonderful ground cover in areas like Wills Canyon. Woolly Bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum) This evergreen shrub looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss […]
From the Field / February ’20
Here at the OVLC rain is a very exciting event—it kicks off the start to planting season for our field crew! We are out and about on all of the preserves, but we are especially proud of our plantings along San Antonio Creek, where native plants have successfully replaced invasive arundo, and at the old […]
From the Director / June ’20
At the OVLC, we think about community, because quite candidly we couldn’t be here without the support of our generous community. OVLC preserves are the places where the community comes to rejuvenate, exercise, or simply reflect. While COVID-19 has altered how we gather, with physical distancing in place and community and volunteer events on hold, […]
From the Director / February ’20
Ojai is an extraordinary place filled with remarkable people in an amazing natural setting. It seems that the valley exerts a persistent pull on anyone who has spent any time here. In addition to these distinctive qualities, increasingly the Ojai Valley faces many challenges all too familiar to communities throughout California and the West. Perhaps […]
From the Field
It has been another busy season for the field crew! This three-person team installed a recording breaking number of plants this season. While the final count has yet to be tallied, the number is in the thousands. The primary focus for restoration this season was the 36-acre orange grove project on the Ventura River Preserve […]
We are your local land trust, and we want to hear from you!
Brendan Taylor, OVLC Stewardship Director, is in the process of creating a 5-year plan for the stewardship of the preserves. We recently sat down with him to learn more about this plan, and why feedback from the community is so important. Q: Why are you embarking on a 5-year plan for the preserves? A: A […]
In Defense of the Trees
Invasive Beetle in Ojai What do beautiful communities, rich wildlife habitats, parks, bird nests, our global climate, and tire swings all have in common? They all depend on trees, a notable symbol representing a healthy environment. Much of the conservation and restoration work undertaken by the OVLC has revolved around the planting and protection of […]
Allan Jacobs Trail Update
The progress continues on building the newest OVLC trail in the Ventura River Preserve. As of October, we’ve had 108 people, both volunteers and staff, working on the Allan Jacobs Trail. So far we have created 791 feet of trail! This averages out to about 1.94 feet of trail built per person per hour. Why […]
New Signs on the Preserves
When the Thomas Fire burned through the preserves, it cooked quite a few of our trail-junction signs and caused damage to some informational kiosks as well. The fiberglass on the trail signs warped, melted, and became a hazard to clean up. We have cleared most of the old, […]
Free Guided Hike in Wills Canyon
Guided Nature Hike
May 26, 9 am–1 pm
Wills Canyon, Ventura River Preserve
Fire Walk With Us
Fire Walk With Us–A Fire Ecology Workshop with Richard Halsey & Lanny Kaufer
May 5, 9 am – 3 pm
Co-hosted by the OVLC
MEMORIAL DAY NATURE HIKE
Memorial Day Nature Hike
Led by Ojai native plant guide Lanny Kaufer
Monday, May 29 9 am – 3 pm
The Chaparral Ecosystem
The Chaparral Ecosystem: The Secrets of Ojai’s Remarkable Shrubland Wilderness
Talk and field trip led by Richard W. Halsey
April 30, 10 am – 1 pm
Annual OVLC Herb Walk with Lanny Kaufer
Join us on Monday April 25, 2016 for a native plant hike led by Lanny Kaufer
Non-Commercial Orchard Removal Aims to Protect Commercial Groves and Reduce Fire Risks
A project to remove several thousand orange trees at the Ventura River Preserve will address community threats caused by the mix of live and dead orange trees in the historic orchard, and make way for the re-establishment of native oak savanna and woodland habitats. Beginning on October 12, the tree removal will be done mechanically […]
A is for Acorn
Believe it or not it’s acorn collecting time again Collecting as many as we can for restoration projects Drought has seriously hampered acorn production in California Exudation is the sticky substance you find on damaged acorns. Leave them be. Find an oak with grass underneath for a soft landing and better chance of survival. Green […]
All About Ojai: Dirt Time with the Channel Islands Tracking Team
ALL ABOUT OJAI: Environmental Learning Series Dirt Time with the Channel Islands Tracking Team followed by slide show Saturday, May 9, 2015 9 AM to 12 AM Old Baldwin Road Trailhead, Ventura River Preserve Participants should wear sturdy shoes and bring water and sun protection. Join us for a fun and informative morning out on the […]
Kennedy Ridge or Bust
The Kennedy Ridge Trail and OVLC Stewardship Director were featured in a great article by Ray Ford in the Santa Barbara Independent this week: As you ascend the switchbacks leading to the top of Kennedy Ridge the whole Ojai Valley comes into view. The Topatopa Mountain escarpment provides a similar backdrop to what we […]
Ventura River Preserve – Free Guided Nature Hike and Bird Walk
Sunday, May 3rd, 2015 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. Ventura River Preserve: Wills-Rice Canyon Loop The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy is hosting a bird and nature hike at the Ventura River Preserve on Sunday May 3rd at 8:30 AM. The hike will follow the Wills-Rice Loop trail and will be led by Peter Larramendy. You […]
Riverview Trailhead Scheduled to Close
At the end of September, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s 10 year easement that allows us to maintain the Ventura River Preserve’s Riverview Trailhead will expire. Many people probably don’t realize that the Riverview Trailhead on Rice Road does not sit on Ojai Valley Land Conservancy property. This land and about forty acres immediately below […]
Western Tracking Institute to offer Full-Day Track and Sign Class on March 15
Please join the Channel Islands Tracking Team for a full-day track and sign class on Saturday, March 15th at the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s Ventura River Preserve. The class will be taught by Barry Martin of the Western Tracking Institute. We will meet at the Old Baldwin Road trailhead at 8:30 am (directions below) and spend most of […]
Rice Creek Restoration Time Lapse
In October 2013, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, along with our team of engineers and contractors, freed Rice Creek from an artificially created diversion ditch and back into its historic native route. The project healed a severed hydrologic connection between Rice Creek and the Ventura River. The project re-wetted ¾ of a mile of historic […]
Once Upon A Watershed Makes A Difference: Ojai & Ventura Children in Grades 4 – 6 Learn About the Outdoors
This week local educators David White and Heather King took Topa Topa, Oak Grove, and Summit school sixth grade students on an adventure at Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s new, not yet open to the public, Ventura River Steelhead Preserve. At the preserve these children, through the Once Upon a Watershed (OUW) program, continued their hands […]
Passion Inspires Rice Creek Realignment
On Saturday the Sespe Fly Fishers Club recognized Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s commitment to preservation of the environment and support for local conservation through direct action in the Ojai Valley. Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, is committed to supporting local conservation efforts. Couinard is also a fly fisherman and member of the Sespe Fly Fishers […]
