Vol. 10 No. 2
Summer 2014
Dear Fellow Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Members: The Conservancy Board of Trustees is currently reviewing our Strategic Plan, a five-year document developed in 2009 to guide the Conservancy’s actions in achieving its goals. We are reminded that it’s never a bad time to revisit our mission. The mission of the Conservancy, as stated on our website and in every issue of the Outlook, is the following: The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is a land trust operating in the Ventura region to protect and conserve open space resources through acquisition of land and easements, stewardship of protected lands, and public education about local natural resources. It is not the mission of this conservancy to advocate for development. And be assured that our intent will always be to maximize the conservation benefit for the community, in any endeavor we undertake. Tim Coonan President, Board of Trustees Ventura Hillsides Conservancy
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Picnic at the River and World Fish Migration Day by Lee Sherman
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he Ventura Hillsides Conservancy and Friends of the Ventura River hosted the third annual Picnic at the River on Saturday, May 24th from 11AM2PM at the Willoughby Preserve in downtown Ventura. This year’s event coincided with World Fish Migration Day 2014 (WFMD), a one day global initiative, with local events worldwide, to raise awareness about the importance of open rivers for migratory fish. Currently, migratory fish are threatened and fish stocks are declining rapidly around the world. This is especially true in Ventura, where the Santa Clara and Ventura Rivers once teemed with now endangered Steelhead Trout. The Conservancy, FOTVR and Ventura Surfrider partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to highlight this world wide event. Outreach coordinators from NOAA hosted a booth that put local habitat restoration efforts in a nation-wide context. Their exhibit included children’s Continued on page 3
VHC Outlook Briefs:
President’s Message By Tim Coonan
Member Outreach: Our First Annual Campaign Phone Bank Over a dozen volunteers, staff and board members were smiling and dialing this May in an effort to reach out to current and lapsed members to raise support for our successful Habitat Restoration and Watershed Education programs. We reached out to over a thousand of you and the conversations we had taught us a lot about our supporters and your enthusiasm for our work. We’d like to thank all those members who made gifts above and beyond their annual dues, and welcome back our old friends! The funds raised will help us provide hands-on outdoor education to students from our local schools this fall and winter.
Planning for Perpetuity: Conservancy Partners with Ventura County Community Foundation to establish Land Stewardship Endowment Fund Well into our 12th year, Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is now focusing on bolstering our efforts to preserve protected lands in perpetuity. As our holdings and responsibilities grow, the Board has taken an important step in establishing a dedicated and permanent funding for land stewardship. The Conservancy has partnered with the Ventura County Community Foundation to establish the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Endowment Fund. Launched in August 2014, the endowment will provide a lasting benefit to the lands we love, ensuring their professional supervision for years to come. The fund is managed by the Community Foundation, which has the unique ability to hold assets for agencies or charitable organizations. Established in 1987, the VCCF partners with organizations in building and protecting permanent resources to support important community programs. Endowment funds are 2
The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy and the Regent Plan for Development
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ast week Regent Properties began circulating a draft proposal to build 55 upscale homes in the hillsides above the City of Ventura, with 170 acres donated to the community as open space. The Reporter carried a story about it in its July 24 issue, with comments from community members, including VHC; I pointed out the happy prospect of our community possibly acquiring access to open space in the hills. It’s important to understand that the VHC Board has not taken a position on the proposal, nor will it for months to come. There are multiple layers of information and official reviews that VHC members and the community will have to consider. Only then would the Conservancy Board decide whether we can in good conscience be the holders of land in trust for the community donated by Regent. As with any development proposal, City officials, most likely the City Council, will be responsible for that decision. There are a number of technical issues that the City will likely need to study before taking action, and the California Environmental Quality Act will require an environmental review. The challenges for any residential development in our hills are fairly well known—soil stability, grading, slope, water, drainage, natural gas lines, traffic, and more. The required review will likely encompass geotechnical issues associated with slope stability, and the applicability of the city’s Hillside Management Program, adopted by the City in 1989 and part of its General Plan. Additionally we would expect individuals and groups, including residents of affected neighborhoods and the VHC membership base, to add their voices to the decision-making. The roles that land trusts play in conservation development may include holding easements, participating in stewardship of conserved lands and/or working with developers and landowners at the pre-development and development stages to promote conservation-friendly outcomes. Be assured that the Conservancy is interested in working with Regent Properties and all property owners, as well as the City, to facilitate public access and permanently protected open space for the community. However, the Conservancy has not taken a position on the Regent proposal at this time. Tim Coonan President, Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Board of Trustees particularly useful to organizations whose contributions can fluctuate with changing economic conditions; they demonstrate the organization’s security, stability and long-range planning, and help sustain its mission in perpetuity. The Community Foundation distributes annual earnings to the nonprofit to meet their needs. Donations made to the fund will
provide a reliable source of income for the life of VHC. All contributions are tax deductible. You can give online through the VCCF here: http://www. vccf.org/zcom/donation/display. do?compid=721&prodid=580. For more information on the Ventura County Community Foundation, visit www.vccf.org.
Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook
Summer 2014
World Fish Migration Day Continued from page 1
literature and activities that provided information about the life cycle of salmon and steelhead and offered a closer look at west coast fisheries. Several children made Salmon Lifecycle Bracelets as souvenirs. Adults enjoyed lively discussions , as NOAA scientists presented new information linking the ability of spawning fish to return to their waters of origin through their sense of smell. Ventura Audubon’s booth was also popular for its taxidermies and its roster of native and migrating bird species that call the river home. Friends of the Ventura River distributed copies of the Ventura River Parkway Map, now also available in Spanish. Kids helped return the steelhead to the river by way of a cleverly decorated bean bag toss game put together by Diane Underhill. And long-time West Side residents from the Tortilla Flats Archive Project were on hand to share their photos, stories and memories of a time not too long ago when the Ventura River was their playground and the primary destination for recreation for the neighborhoods of Ventura Avenue. Patagonia was also on hand to promote their new film DAMNation, which chronicles “deadbeat dams” across the country and their impact on local communities and native fish populations. The film prominently features Ventura River’s own Matilija Dam. Once again Conservancy staff led tours of the preserve, stopping to highlight their habitat restoration efforts along the way as well as views of the river and estuary. Past visitors were quite impressed with the progress being made by the Conservancy’s volunteer restoration program. Over 100 people took the tour and enjoyed the free Taqueria Tepititlan lunch, courtesy of Ventura Surfirider and the Matilija Coalition. Summer 2014
CAPTIONS needed
Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook q
Tel: 805-643-8044 P.O. Box 1284, Ventura, CA 93002 www.venturahillsides.org Robert Louis Chianese, Editor email: editor@venturahillsides.org
q Outlook is published semi-annually by the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy, a 501 (c) (3) California nonprofit organization. Story submissions and ideas welcomed.
Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook
Copyright ©2014 Ventura Hillsides Conservancy. All rights reserved.
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Ventura River Parkway now a National Recreation Trail
By Lee Sherman
Patrick Johnson and Derek Poultney install the National Recreation Trail marker on Conservancy property at the Big Rock Preserve. Derek Poultney discusses the features of the Ventura River’s riparian characteristics at the Conservancy’s Big Rock Preserve.
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n early June of this year, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Parks Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis bestowed nationwide recognition on a treasured local resource: The Ventura River Trails. They added the 15-mile linear park into the Park Service’s register of National Recreation Trails. “The National Trails System connects Americans with federal, state and local lands and nationwide,” Jarvis said. “As we celebrate National Trails Day, this network of more than 16,000 miles continues to grow and offer new opportunities for Americans to explore the great outdoors.” The trail provides bicycle and pedestrian access to the two most important Ventura Hillsides Conservancy holdings: the Willoughby Preserve at the Ventura River Estuary, and the Big Rock Preserve south of Foster Park. National recreation trail designations recognize trail systems that link communities to recreational opportunities on public lands and in local parks across the nation. Communities and other partners supporting the establishment of the new national recreation trails receive a certificate of designation, a letter of congratulations from Secretary Jewell, and a set of national recreation trail markers. The Conservancy, along with Friends of the Ventura River, applied for this designation in January 2014 on behalf of the City and County of Ventura. Both groups joined to host an event along the trail at our Big Rock Preserve on June 7 to commemorate the designation and celebrate National Trails Day, America’s largest annual singleday trails and outdoor celebration, organized by the American Hiking Society.
VHC Conservation Assistant Dashiell Dunkell covers the fundamentals with the Girl Scout Troop 60718 as they prepare for a preserve cleanup at National Trails Day.
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The Ventura River Trail from Main Street to Foster Park is the site a major city of Ventura public art installation project. Wheel Totem Pole, by California State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (second from Left) delivered California Annette Fourbears, is located just north of VHC’s Big Rock Senate Certificates of Recognition to (left to right) Diane Underhill, Friends of the Preserve at Foster Park. It evokes the Ventura River’s history Ventura River; Mark Capelli, National Marine Fisheries Service; and David Comden, through its locomotive-base and framework of wheel forms Ventura Hillsides Conservancy. from a Mission cart, horsedrawn carriage, old cultivator, Photos by Chuck Journey and Stephen Svete Model A, oil derrick pulley and bicycle. Hillsides Conservancy Outlook Ventura Summer 2014
The Conservancy has used the Ventura River Trail segments for numerous community education and outreach events. The Hills on Wheels event was held in May of 2008, and involved over 60 cyclists.
The 16.5-mile Ventura River Parkway Trail includes two major trails: the Ventura River Trail and the Ojai Valley Trail. From the Ventura River Estuary to the city of Ojai, the contiguous corridor of pedestrian and cycling trails, river crossings and public access points reconnect people in the city and rural communities to the river. The trail links diverse rural neighborhoods to natural open space area like the Conservancy’s preserves, providing health and fitness benefits to youth and adults. The Conservancy and Friends of the Ventura River thanks National Park Service Outdoor Recreation Planner Patrick Johnston critical assistance in achieving the designation. Residents and visitors are always welcome to take advantage of the Ventura River Parkway Trail with a ride or hike, and now will enjoy a facility with national recognition. Dashiell Dunkell points out rich ecological features of the Ventura River riparian habitat to an attentive Girl Scout on the Conservancy’s Big Rock Preserve.
State Assemblyman Das Williams, State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, and U.S. Congresswoman Julia Brownley all attended the dedication of the Ventura River Trail on June 7, 2014 at the VHC’s Big Rock Preserve.
Representative Julia Brownley of California’s 26th Congressional District, State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, and State Assemblyman Das Williams presented certificates of recognition to the Conservancy and Friends of the Ventura River for their efforts in recommending the trail for designation. Local officials in attendance included former Ventura Mayor Brian Brennan, Councilman Carl Morehouse, County Parks Supervisor Ron Van Dyck. Sylvia Schnopp, Outreach Coordinator for REI, presented the Conservancy with a grant award of $8,000 toward our successful Habitat Restoration and Watershed Education programs. Girl Scouts from Troop 60718 helped clear vegetation from the trail connecting the bike path to the river and Conservancy trustees led tours of the property and its trail system. Conservation Manager Derek Poultney and Conservation Assistant Dashiell Dunkell erected a post along the path and installed the National Recreation Trail marker to the cheers of the assembled crowd of 50-plus celebrants. Summer 2014
REI feted the National Trail dedication by presenting a grant award for VHC’s Habitat Restoration and Watershed Education programs. From left: Lee Sherman, VHC Development and Volunteer Coordinator; Das Williams, State Assemblyman for 37th District; Sylvia Schnopp, Outreach Coordinator for REI; Jens Redemann, David Comden, and Tom Weisel, VHC Trustees; Hannah Beth Jackson, State Senator for the 19th District; Carl Morehouse, Ventura City Councilman; Julia Brownley, U.S Congresswoman, California’s 26th District; Ron Van Dyck, Ventura County Parks Supervisor; and Patrick Johnson, National Park Service Outdoor Recreation Planner.
Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook
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Paul Meehan is our new Trustee
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e are pleased to announce that Paul Meehan has joined our Board of Trustees. He will serve us well, with an extensive environmental background and political savvy that already saw him make a run for the Ventura City Council. Originally from Michigan, Paul has connected with our local environment in a number of impressive ways. He has a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Studies from UCSB; he was a boat captain for Island Packers visiting the Channel Islands, and a Boat Patrol Ranger for the Park Service there as well. His heart is really in environmental care: he volunteered his services in finding lost pets after the Katrina hurricane, returning them to their owners. He makes his living these days working in IT for FedEx. Paul’s positions on various local issues are environmentally aware. He would promote the use of gray water in domestic households, protect open space, and work toward the construction of a local Ventura City animal shelter. There are many ecologically important things the Conservancy will need advice about and help implementing. Paul will be a great asset in those efforts. He lives in Ventura with wife Kellie and their two children.
Grant News:
Our programs continue to expand with the support of our community partners Union Bank, Southern California Edison, Patagonia and REI. Patagonia awarded the Conservancy a $2,000 Miracle grant in March after employees in the Planning Department participated in our massive Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service River Clean-up in January. Union Bank has committed another $5,000 to our Habitat Restoration and Watershed Education programs, in addition to the $5,000 awarded last year. Southern California Edison has also renewed their support at the $5,000 level. REI has stepped up with an $8,000 contribution and has provided the Conservancy outreach opportunities at each of their stores, both in Oxnard and Santa Barbara. In addition to funding, each company has a robust volunteer program allowing their employ ees to give back to the communities they serve. We are very fortunate to have such great relationships. If you’re business would like to participate in our volunteer program call Development Manager Lee Sherman (805) 643-8044 or email lsherman@venturahillsides.org.
6th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival
Poinsettia Pavilion — Friday and Saturday, March 13th and 14th 2015 Sponsorship Opportunities Available Now!
Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Board of Trustees
Tim Coonan, President Tom Weisel, Vice-President Gerhardt Hubner, Secretary Lynn Bartosh Richard Francis David Comden Paul Meehan Jennifer Montoya Jens Reddeman — OUR MISSION — The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is a land trust operating in the Ventura region to protect and conserve open space resources through acquisition of land and easements, stewardship of protected lands, and public education about local natural resources.
VHC is a proud member of the Land Trust Alliance — Visit www.lta.org
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Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook
Summer 2014