OJAI VALLEY LAND CONSERVANCY
Protecting your views, trails, water and wildlife
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Winter Newsletter 2015 Volume 22, Number 1
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Rick Bisaccia Named Stewardship Director In recognition of the importance of land management to the preserves managed by the Conservancy, the OVLC has created the new senior-level position of Stewardship Director. The Stewardship Director oversees all preserve management activity and develops projects that improve the quality of outdoor experiences enjoyed by our preserve visitors. The OVLC is proud to have offered this position to long-time OVLC Preserve Manager, Rick Bisaccia. The creation of this position comes in recognition that the OVLC has added substantially to our preserve holdings over the past few years, including the Steelhead Preserve and the Valley View Preserve, and that the care and management of these lands needed to be elevated to a top priority for the organization. This position is also important as the implementation arm of the OVLC’s 1% for Ojai program, a partnership with local businesses that facilitates public support for management of publicly accessible open spaces. Funds raised through the program are used to improve and maintain trails, trailheads, and other preserve features, as well as for potential acquisitions of additional open spaces. Rick has been with the OVLC for 7 years and has singlehandedly managed our growing preserve portfolio. In his new position he will
take a leadership role in setting priorities for land management, and bringing tangible enhancements to our preserves. With the added resources from 1% for Ojai, preserve users should see improvements coming soon. “I can’t think of anyone more passionate about the outdoors than Rick. He has a keen sense of how preserve visitors interact with our lands and the best ways to create high quality outdoor experiences” - Brian Stark, Executive Director