Vol. 10 No. 1
Winter 2014
The Martin Luther King National Day of Service: Our local Wetlands Benefit
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By Derek Poultney, VHC Conservation Manager
very Martin Luther King Day of National Service, the President calls on all Americans to participate in our nation’s recovery and renewal by serving our communities. And Ventura sure responded. The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy’s call for Cleanup Volunteers produced over 100 of them, who filled up a 40-yard dumpster with trash from State Park property (between the 101 and railroad bridges) and cleared an acre of Arundo in 2 hours. We do these Clean-ups year round. Last June, the Southern California Wetland Recovery Project (SCWRP) awarded the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy (VHC) $28,000 to ensure the continued and on-going success of our volunteer and wetland education programs at our properties along the Ventura River. Since June, on the first Tuesday and third Saturday mornings of every month, the grant has funded 29 weekly patrols to ensure clean and safe conditions on the Willoughby Preserve and 12 monthly and/or bi-monthly volunteer restoration events. The highlight of this program so far was that Martin Luther King Day volunteer experience. VHC also hosted two preserve tours and trash clean-ups with employees from Union Bank, who contributed $5,000 toward our work:
Other notable monthly clean-ups featured employees from Channel Keeper and Patagonia, as well as students all the way from Boston University, who spent their holiday break volunteering for various nonprofits in southern California: The grant also helps VHC take many schools on fieldtrips to the Ventura River, where students participate in habitat restoration and water quality demonstration activities. Since June, VHC has hosted five school field trips to the Big Rock Preserve and five field trips to the Willoughby Preserve and greater estuary area, which have resulted in five, 40yard dumpsters filled with trash or Arundo! Thanks to the SCWRP grant, Resource Conservation Partners applies necessary herbicide to all the Arundo
Charter School students engaged in a reflective exercise along the Ventura River at VHC’s Willoughby Preserve
that our volunteer and labor crews cut to make sure it simply does not grow right back. Also special thanks to the CREW, who contributes their own grant funding to clear Arundo for VHC along the river. Continued on page 3
Wild & Scenic march 14-15 Film Festival T
See Pages 4 - 5
he Ventura Hillsides Conservancy will present the 5th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival at Ventura’s Poinsettia Pavilion over two evenings: Friday and Saturday, March 14th and 15th from 7 to 9:30 PM. Twenty-two films from eight different countries ranging in length from 2 to 30 minutes will be screened with unique programs each night.
“5th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival”