2012 Summer Outlook

Vol. 8 No. 2

Fall 2012

2012 Ventura Hillsides Music Festival TENTH ANNIVERSARY BLOWOUT!! oin us at 1:00 PM in Arroyo Verde Park, Foothill Road, Ventura, on Saturday, September 22 to celebrate our success in open space preservation and resource conservation. We’ve got some of the best live performers in the world lined up to make this our biggest event yet!

In fact, one of our stellar performers just received BEST ALBUM OF 2012 (first half ) from Rolling Stone Magazine –Dr. John — a 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Alumni!

The Ventura Hillsides Music Festival is turning 10!

BBB

We got Blues, We got Rock ‘n’ Roll.

We got More!

Dr. John, or Mac Rebennack as known to friends and family, is universally celebrated as the living embodiment of the rich musical heritage of New Orleans, the inspiration for his unique blend of voodoo mysticism, funk, rhythm & blues, psychedelic rock and Creole roots.

Several of his many career highlights include the masterful album Sun, Moon and Herbs in 1971 which included cameos from Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger. In 1973 In The Right Place contained the chart hits “Right Place Wrong Time” and “Such A Night”.

His most recent album “Lockdown”, that new BEST ALBUM winner, is his highest charting new release ever and

was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Get ready for Mardi Gras to come to Ventura when the Gris-Gris Man casts his spell!

Remembered by many these days as a founding member of the groundbreaking Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Elvin Bishop has also tasted pop success with his 1976 smash hit “Fooled Around and Fell In Love.” Bishop’s long and varied career has included other musical stops along the way as well, from deep down gutbucket blues played in smoky South Side Chicago taverns, to raucous roadhouse R&B, to rollicking good time rock & roll. And at every stage along the way, he’s imbued all of his music with deep passion, a uniquely creative spirit, and more than a little bit of sly humor.

Over the course of their illustrious career, Blues Traveler have sold more Continued on page 3

President’s Message..............................................2 The Hills and the River..........................................5 Ventura River Clean-Up.........................................5 Lanny Kaufer Interview......................................6-8

Dr. John

Ethnobotany.........................................................9

President’s Message

by Tim Coonan These are heady times for the Conservancy.

As I write this, the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is about to host its tenth Ventura Hillsides Music Festival, the annual event which has put us on the map. The proceeds of the Festival have allowed our young land conservancy to take root.

Our recent conservation efforts have focused on two areas, the Ventura River corridor and the Ventura hillsides. Our presence in the Ventura River is now stronger than ever. Recent acquisitions have increased our river land holdings several fold, and the Conservancy has assumed a leadership role in efforts to develop a parkway in the Ventura

River. We have initiated restoration efforts on our river properties, and our environmental education program has focused on getting local kids out in the river.

The Conservancy remains financially strong, thanks to member donations and the funding provided by the Music Festival, our primary fundraising event. At the same time our eyes are ever on the hillsides, as we look for opportunities to acquire and conserve a signature property in the area that both defines our coastal setting and which was the initial impetus for establishment of the Conservancy.

In the next few months we hope to beef up the Conservancy staff. We recently

said goodbye to Melina Watts, our parttime Executive Director, who left the position after a six-month tenure. We would love to fill the Executive Director as a full-time to give the position, and the Conservancy leadership, the attention they deserve.

See you at the concert!

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy: A Growing Presence in our Community

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s Ventura’s local land trust approaches its 10-year anniversary (coming in April 2013), we thought it would be interesting to look at how our land preservation non-profit continues to grow. It turns out that the answer is “steadily.” Measured in paid memberships, VHC has grown 15% over the last three years, from 595 paid memberships in August 2009 to 687 memberships in August 2012 – an impressive statistic since the local economy has struggled during this time frame. Keep in mind too that many memberships represent more than one person, as they encompass couples or families. Based on our calculations, our current paid memberships represent 964 members in our community and beyond.

Memberships are highly valued indicators of an organization’s popular support, and the data is regularly used by governments and grantors to weigh the backing of projects.

VHC also looks at our friends count on social media site Facebook as a measure of support. Since the inception of our page in 2009, our friends have grown tremendously.

Over the past year, our “likes” have grown from 369 to 536, an annual growth rate of 45%! Facebook is a great way for our members and friends to keep up with our activities and news of the Conservancy, so if you are active on Facebook, please visit Ventura Hillsides Conservancy and “like” us! You can also get to our FB page from the Internet by pointing your browser to http://www.facebook.com/venturahills.

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Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook

Fall 2012

Blues Traveler

2012 Ventura Hillsides Music Festival TENTH ANNIVERSARY BLOWOUT! Continued from page 1

than 10 million albums worldwide, played over 2,000 live shows in front of more than 30 million people, and, in “RunAround,” had the longest-charting radio single in Billboard history, which earned them a Grammy® for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Like the name of one of their early EP’s they are “On Tour Forever” and also hold the record for the most appearances by any band on Late Night with David Letterman.

Elvin Bishop Their new album, Suzie Cracks the Whip, was released June 26th.

This year only, in honor of our tenth anniversary, children 10 and under are admitted FREE! Food vendors include Spencer Mackenzie’s Fish Tacos and Topanga Fire Truck Pizza along with frozen treats from McConnell’s Ice Cream.

And Firestone Walker Ales will be pouring their latest, a brew called “805”, a light, crisp summer ale that is only available (you guessed it!) in the 805 area code. Doesn’t get more local than that!

Individual tickets are $50 each for general admission, and Gold Circle tickets for $150, with ticket packages available for families and groups. Tickets are available at GPIW (Patagonia), Salzers, Simone’s Coffee & Tea or online at www.venturahillsides.org. For details call (805) 643-8044 or visit our website.

The Ventura Hillsides Music Festival is sponsored in part by a host of community partners including Patagonia, Firestone Walker Fine Ales, Castoro Cellars, Rat Sound, the City of Ventura, VC Reporter, VC Star, Crowne Plaza Ventura (Ventura’s Only Beach Front Hotel), KVTA, Rewind 95.9, Santa Barbara Bank and Trust, Villa Tasca Gardens, the Ventura County Credit Union, Camper Rentals USA and the Wright Family Trust.

See you on Saturday September 22 for Hillsides Music Festival Number Ten! Fall 2012

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Profiles of Some of Our Business Partners

by Brooke Ashworth

Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel

The Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel has been a business partner with the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy for the last ten years with thousands of dollars in donations for our Ventura Hillsides Music Festival.

The Crowne Plaza is an extraordinary property—Ventura’s only beachfront hotel. With ocean views from every room, the hotel is a fantastic base for beachgoers, surfers, and Ventura visitors. The hotel makes it a wonderful

location for a meeting or gathering with its lobby bar, outdoor fireside seating, swimming pool, a restaurant with private dining room and all sizes of meeting and banquet rooms.

The Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach has been recognized as the Green Business of the Year by both the City and the County of Ventura. The hotel is carbon neutral through the purchase of offsets, composts its kitchen waste, and sends its fry grease to be made into biodiesel.

The Crowne Plaza is the place to stay and play whether you are coming to Ventura for the Ventura Hillsides Music Festival or are taking a break near home. And when you do, please let the hotel know how much you appreciate their support of the Conservancy’s work. The hotel’s partnership is important to the VHC’s success. http://www.cpventura.com/

result of a friendship between me and Alston partner Jocelyn Thompson, an environmental and land use lawyer based in Los Angeles. Jocelyn and her husband, Ben, are regular attendees at the Ventura Hillsides Music festival, becoming patron level members at their first concert.

Jocelyn explains, “Most of the firm’s pro bono work involves immigration, landlord-tenant and adoption cases.

I wanted to find a nonprofit whose needs are a match with my expertise and my conservation interests.”

We are very grateful to Jocelyn for volunteering her time for VHC, and for Alston and Bird’s support. http://www.alston.com/

Alston and Bird LLP, Legal Firm

The Conservancy is fortunate to have the counsel of attorneys at Alston + Bird LLP, one of the top fifty law firms in the country.

Under Alston’s very active pro bono program, VHC is able to receive top flight legal advice at no cost.

Across the country Alston has received awards for its pro bono program. The firm encourages its lawyers to take on pro bono clients, tracking their pro bono hours and rewarding the top performers with prizes and special recognition during an annual “pro bono week.”

The relationship between Alston and Bird and VHC came about as the

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Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook

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.

Copyright ©2012 Ventura Hillsides Conservancy All rights reserved

Fall 2012

The Hills and the River that Runs through Them

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ike many of you, from time to time I find myself on the bike path that borders the Ventura River, upstream from the river’s estuary.

On the bike path, perched on a floodcontrol embankment, one is physically separated from the river bottom, and while you can see the willows and hear the birds, there is a sense of distance from the river itself and the life it has sustained for millennia.

From its origins high in the local mountains, the Ventura River drains a large watershed, one of the steepest in the nation, and provides habitat for rare species such as southern steelhead and red-legged frog. The river was a vital resource for local Chumash, who had a large settlement at the estuary. The river’s waters were diverted during mission days to water mission agricultural fields.

by Tim Coonan These days a curtain of alien vegetation seals off our view of the river’s workings, and if we are aware of the river, it’s often because the area’s homeless encampments and occasional fires make the local news. However, as Conservancy staffer Lee Sherman reports below, our community’s long-dormant relationship with the Ventura River is about to change, and the Conservancy is a vital player in the movement. The Conservancy has joined the Friends of the Ventura River, an umbrella group comprising government agencies and non-profits seeking to establish a “Parkway” on the lower Ventura River. The Conservancy’s Ventura River holdings, which soon will include the 8-acre Willoughby parcel between the Main Street bridge and the freeway, will be part of a parkway trail that seeks to reconnect the community with the river.

We’re teaming with the city, county and local charities to address the social challenges of the area, and partners such as Patagonia have stepped up to help us remove non-native vegetation and restore the riparian function of the area. I’m excited about our involvement in the river, and I hope you are, too.

Some of you have had a chance to visit our Foster Park Area Preserve or participate one of the Friends Of the Ventura River sponsored tours of the lower river properties.

Our work in the river is a necessary complement to our continuing interest in preserving the local hillsides. We remain focused on conservation of those hills, the signature property that defines our community.

The Parkway Project: Clean Up Issues

by Lee Sherman, photos by Derek Poultney

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f you grew up in Ventura in the years before Highway 33 severed it from the community you probably played, fished for steelhead trout, or learned to swim in the Ventura River. The east-west streets that cross Ventura Avenue ended at its banks, and popular swimming holes such as “Stanley’s” and “The Rocks” were the place to be when the school day ended.

If you venture down below the Main Street bridge today, you would have a hard time imaging such a storied past: tons of trash, discarded clothing, and ruined furniture litter the landscape where dozens of people camp illegally. But through a broad coalition of public agency and non-profit partners, all that is about to change. continued on page 10

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Lanny Kaufer Interview – August 13, 2012

by Stephen Svete, photos by Karen Bednorz You’ve been leading herb walks for over 35 years. What is the primary motivating factor to continue this work?

I think it really comes from my sense of environmentalism going back to the 70s and Earth Day. That time led me to understand that preserving the native landscape – where each of us live – is the best way that we can think globally and act locally. By preserving the native landscape, the plant landscape, we provide the ecosystem for all other life – for all animal life.

Ethnobotanist and herb expert Lanny Kaufer

Local Herbologist Leads tour of Conservancy River Property

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n July, the Conservancy was able to work with local ethnobotanist and herb expert Lanny Kaufer on what will we hope be a long and productive collaboration. Kaufer is the founder of Herb Walks with Lanny Kaufer, since 1976. The instructional outdoor events focus on the plants defined as “herbs,” -- those that can be used for food and medicine. Along the trails the hikers encounter many herbs that have multiple uses for survival, crafts, home remedies, gardening, ceremony, fiber-making and wildcrafting of all sorts.

Once you begin to understand the complex interrelationships between all these species and how they’ve co-evolved for, in some cases, millions of years, you really get to appreciate the wisdom of the synergy. When you add to that the fascinating elements of all the uses – human uses, what we call ethnobotany – that’s what makes it really interesting to me and that seems to be what draws people in – wanting to know what they can eat, what they can make tea with, what they can use for first aid on the trail, what they can do about bugs when they are camping. So you bring that element, and then there is a personal, practical level of engagement. But really, the overriding passion for me is trying to preserve our planet.

Have you noticed any change in western Ventura County since starting this work? Are things better or worse?

Well, I’ve seen both. In terms of things being better, we have land conservancies now. We have the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy, and the Nature Conservancy, which is now administering the Santa Clara River.

The VHC event was held on a sunny Sunday morning July 29 at the Conservancy’s Foster Park area preserve properties. About 18 members and friends joined the walk. The group became acquainted up close and personal with Mugwort, Purple Sage, and numerous other useful plant species. As an added bonus, the group spotted an endangered Southern Steelhead Trout swimming in the Conservancy’s reach of the Ventura River!

Kaufer hopes to regularly hold these walks on Conservancy lands, and has become a member of VHC. We caught up with him to get to know him a bit better.

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As for things getting worse, I don’t think it is any secret that funding for the Forest Service has gradually been decreasing since I started doing these walks, so in terms of trail maintenance, in terms of being able to do everything that they are mandated to do to preserve our native species, I don’t think they’ve been able to keep up with it. So, it’s fallen to independent organizations.

The other thing is that there used to be more simply open areas – meadows, and different places, even empty lots – that I could take people out into, and now those are developed.

There is very little development on the hillsides in Ojai, but as far as the valley floor, that is pretty well developed now. Which makes it all the more important to have land conservancies that are preserving what’s still remaining.

How has your audience evolved over the years?

Demographics? Level of Knowledge?

It seems like every year, I’ll get a group that will catch on, and will come to four or five walks, and I offer a special deal after your third walk, your fourth one is free.

As far as the demographic, I definitely have a lot of older people. But there are always a few young people too, and that is what inspires me – to see a new generation interested in this really ancient knowledge of the plants.

How important are local land trusts in supporting your work?

They’re just vital now to all of us. I am very excited about my new relationship with the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy.

Until I met Derek [Poultney, VHC stewardship coordinator] at a fundraiser in Ojai, I didn’t know that the Hillsides Conservancy had land down in the river. I’m used to the headwaters, Matilija Canyon, and then the upper Ventura River where it is mostly dried up this time of year. To see where it finally surfaces again, where the water table reaches the surface, is stunning.

Over the years I’ve definitely seen an incredible increased awareness of the environment, and of herbs and natural food in general.

What observations can you make about VHC’s property?

Any unique botany to be aware of?

Sure. Anytime you have a continually flowing creek or river in this part of the world, you have some unique botany. You have things that you will only find on the Sespe or on (the VHC) section of the Ventura River, a few year-round creeks of which we have very few, so that aquatic and riparian habitat is very unique, very special. There is Willow-Herb, there’s Watercress, which you won’t find even ten feet from water’s edge. You’ve got a lot of Cottonwood trees down there, which like to get their roots down into the water.

What you have at the Foster Park Preserve is the sun-loving chaparral plants – like Black Sage for example – coming right down to the edge of the trees along the river, and then immediately transitioning to these water plants. It’s kind of a striking contrast. You can walk five feet and be in a whole different ecological zone.

What is the most useful herb that Venturans should be aware of in our surrounding open spaces?

Well, the first thing that is going to come to mind is a plant that most native plant enthusiasts hate. It’s the ubiquitous Wild Mustard, or Black Mustard. It grows all over the hillsides around Ventura, and comes up as a weed everywhere. But me, I love that plant. I like to see it eradicated in places where it is encroaching on native plants, but it often grows along roadsides and in disturbed areas that are not ecologically sensitive areas to begin with – now continued on next page

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it sounds like I am starting to apologize – I’d much rather see natives around. But as far as a plant for foraging, when we have a good early rain, a nice early winter, my wife and I will go out and harvest bags of Wild Mustard greens. This is before it puts up the flower stalk, when it’s just greens coming up. It’s Mustard greens! You can go to the store and buy them, but they’re one of the most nutritious vegetables on the planet. You have to watch the places you are picking them because of the places it grows. It could be sprayed or have pollution from cars, but we have our little spots that we know it’s not getting pollution from car traffic, where it’s just hikers and bicyclists going by.

You can also eat the mustard flowers. Broccoli is in the mustard family too. It’s also called the cabbage family – all those sulfurous vegetables. Pretty much all of them, the unopened flower heads are edible. That’s what broccoli is.

It’s an unopened flower bud that has not bloomed yet. They are like little tiny spicy broccoli heads – the little mustard heads before they flower. And then, once they flower, you can still eat them in the flowering stage too. You can decorate a salad; they give a nice spicy radish kind-of flavor.

Then, after the flowers come the seeds. They are in skinny little pods, these tiny little seeds. Those seeds are what they grind to a powder to make mustard.

What are your overall impressions of VHC’s first river properties in protection?

I have been singing your praises for your non-chemical, manual labor approach to eradicating the Arundo, a serious invasive plant that has affected the whole ecosystem of the

river. Obviously it is just the beginning of establishing a trail there, and eventually being able to allow the native plants to come back. The first step is getting rid of the Arundo! I hope I can continue to draw attention to your efforts there.

Lanny Kaufer is a graduate of University of California, Santa Cruz (Biology, 1974) where he did extensive independent studies in the field of naturopathic medicine and worked in the UCSC arboretum. He also has studied with noted herbalists, ethnobotanists and Chumash plant experts. A retired teacher, Kaufer taught science, health and natural history at Santa Paula High School, Happy Valley School, Ojai Valley School, Mountain View High School and Renaissance Continuation High School. He served as Education Director for The C.R.E.W. (Concerned Resource and Environmental Workers). His website is www.

HerbWalks.com.

The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is pro-growth — well at least for our mission of land preservation!

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Board of Trustees Tim Coonan, President Tom Weisel, Vice-President Gerhardt Hubner, Secretary Brooke Ashworth Bob Bartosh Gary K. Bednorz David Comden Jamie L. King

by Gary K. Bednorz That’s right: we continue to grow in membership and the amount of local open-space permanently conserved. Over 1500 folks have joined us since we started nine years ago. I often say, “We are mission driven and membership fueled!” As membership grows, so has the acres of land protected. Community support through membership is the foundation to our future.

Imagine how wonderful it will be to have the Ventura River, the Santa Clara River, and thousands of acres of hillsides and canyons open for public enjoyment. Please pass this newsletter along to friends and ask them to join you in making this dream a reality!

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— Our Mission — To preserve the hillsides, canyons, and open space that contribute to the natural environment and unique character of the City of San Buenaventura and the surrounding region for the benefit of present and future generations

VHC is a proud member of the Land Trust Alliance Visit www.lta.org

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Native Lore about Our Local Plants Book review by Robert Chianese

Jan Timbrook, Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People of Southern California. Botanical watercolors

by Chris Chapman. Heyday Books and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2007. 271 pages. ISBN: 978-1-59714-048-5 $27.95.

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his invaluable book adds to our knowledge of the Chumash and their use of local plant materials.

Through it, we gain insight about the culture of these Native Americans who once thrived in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. As author Timbrook explains, this is not really a field guide to local plants of our very bio-diverse coastal and foothill region, but more of a cultural record of how these peoples used the botanical resources at their disposal.

Did you know some Chumash on their life-after-death journey, where they lost their eyes, plucked poppies for substitutes? Or that the invasive tree tobacco was made into a paste and dried and served as an inebriant or even a pleasant emetic to enhance an evening meal? Or that the familiar red toyon or Christmas berry cold be cooked and eaten, or its hard wood made into hooks and arrows, or offertory poles? There are hundreds of pieces of information like this in the book, its primary purpose, but it is also a field guide of sorts.

properties, even recipes for preparing them, how they might be made into myriad implements and cooking utensils.

There’s an added bonus. Watercolor illustrations of nearly 40 species make the book an aesthetic delight to the eye while providing visual botanic information. Artist Chris Chapman infuses the volume with an artistry inspired by science. She depicts selected specimens by themselves against a plain beige background with an elegant simplicity that lets us see their ordinariness as a source of beauty and power.

Ethnobiologist Timbrook gives us 3 to 5 names for each plant in different Chumash dialects, plus the common English and Spanish names, as well as their botanic designation.

Then we get information about the uses of these plants, their medicinal

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Much of the Chumash material comes from the boxes from boxes of notes in the Smithsonian by early anthropologist John Peabody Harrington from over 50 years of recording the world of the Chumash from various native informants.

Scientist Timbrook with her unique expertise in both botany and anthropology, describes these plants still growing in our hills today, conveys their historical native uses, and gives us a window to the mythic world of plants in which the Chumash lived.

Robert Chianese, editor of Outlook, has just published a book, Art Inspired by Science.

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Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #602 OXNARD, CA

www.venturahillsides.org • Printed on recycled paper.

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy PO Box 1284 • Ventura, CA 93002 A dd r ess S e r vice Re q uested

The Parkway Project: Clean Up Issues continued from page 5 This past August, a generous grant from Patagonia was used to hire the CREW (Concerned Resource Environmental Workers) to remove the vast thickets of Arundo donax (giant reed or “bamboo”) from the river bottom, exposing the camps and their inhabitants, which need to be removed. We are pleased to partner with the City, the County, local law enforcement, State Parks, and our fire and rescue agencies on this project. We also have support and assistance from a host of social service agencies to improve the lives of the homeless there and find them permanent housing. And our cleanup efforts would not be possible without EJ Harrison’s generously donated hauling services.

On July 31 the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to support in concept the Ventura River Parkway Plan. A link to the document can be found on the Friends of the Ventura River website: (http://www.friendsofventurariver.org).

Prior to the Supervisor’s meeting, the Ventura City Council instructed City staff to work to remove the “permanent” illegal encampments in the Ventura River.

This is just the first step in realizing the Ventura River Parkway Plan. As soon as the Arundo and encampments are gone and the area becomes safe, the Conservancy’s holdings in the river will link to the bike path as pocket parks. They will provide much needed open space for Ventura’s West Side and eventually recreation and tourism opportunities for the entire South Coast region.

While it won’t happen overnight, we are working on turning back the clock and restoring the river to its former glory.

Sometime in the near future you may overhear children in the area say “Let’s go play at the River after school!”

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follow us at : w w w.f aceb o o k .co m/ ventu ra hi l l s

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