Sambucus nigra caerulea
Sambucus nigra caerulea
Chumash: qayas Español: Sauco
Chumash: qayas Español: Sauco
est. 2005
Once Upon a Watershed
is a program of the CREW
Telling the Story of Our Watershed Through Exploration, Education, and Stewardship
4th Grade - 'The Story of Our Oaks'
The program for 4th grade students is “The Story of Our Oaks", which emphasizes the definition of a watershed, the role of oaks as a keystone species and the importance of native plants and animals in the Ventura River ecosystem.
Ojai youth actively participate in hands-on stewardship efforts through the collection and planting of native acorns at the OVLC’s Ojai Meadows Preserve. Their efforts are part of a larger OVLC restoration plan to return an oak woodland ecosystem to part of the 58 acres of protected land.
The Ventura and Rio students’ participate in restoration efforts at one of two sites now managed by the Ventura Land Trust (previously Ventura Hillsides Conservancy); the Willoughby Property, which lies in the river bottom between the Main Street and 101 freeway bridges or the Big Rock property just downstream from the Foster Park bridge. The students plant acorns and other native plants in specific areas of these properties as part of a larger restoration plan to return natives to these areas that have been cleared of the invasive, nonnative giant reed Arundo donax.
