Dr. David White. Courtesy photo.
VENTURA — Through the month of October, Ventura Land Trust will celebrate its first annual OAKtober with a series of events that acknowledge and celebrate Ventura County’s oak trees and ecosystems.
Oaks are the foundation of several major ecosystems in Ventura County. Each oak is central to home to a hundred interdependent plant and animal species. Trees work for us by cleaning air and water, sequestering atmospheric carbon, buffering climate extremes, and reducing energy usage. Oaks reduce flooding and support our native wildlife. Oaks, and trees in general, provide important benefits that provide the foundation for our individual and planetary health.
VLT and event partners will drive awareness of the value of oaks across California, while developing a community network to support these important oak ecosystems. Scheduled events include:
OAKtober Launch: Meet the Oaks of Harmon Canyon, Featuring Once Upon a Watershed Program Director Dr. David White and Melina Watts, Author of Tree
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 am
Date: October 2, 2021
Location: Harmon Canyon Preserve, 7511 Foothill Road, Ventura, California 93003
Guests will meet at the Harmon Canyon Preserve trailhead and then walk a short distance to an oak grove with trees that are over 300 years old. Dr. David White will talk about the central role of oaks in the ecosystem in Harmon Canyon Preserve and give tips on how to grow an acorn into a sprout help the young tree to mature. Writer Melina Watts will read from her 2017 novel Tree, the story of a California live oak from the point of view of the tree. See: “Sometimes the adventure outside is on the inside.” Tree is available at Timbre Books.
Harmon Oak Woodlands, featuring Los Padres ForestWatch Conservation Director Bryant Baker
Time: 9:00 – 10:30 am
Date: October 30, 2021
Location: Harmon Canyon Preserve, 7511 Foothill Road, Ventura, California 93003
In partnership with Los Padres ForestWatch, LPFW Conservation Director Bryant Baker, known on Instagram as @bryanttheshrublander, will lead a presentation on Harmon Canyon Preserve’s signature oak woodlands. This presentation will delve into the habitat, biology, and natural history of oak woodlands in Ventura County’s hills and the Los Padres National Forest. Guests will meet at the Harmon Canyon Preserve trailhead and walk a short distance to a Harmon Canyon oak grove to see and learn about the trees up close.
Other events will be announced as they are scheduled. Guests are encouraged to RSVP for OAKtober events at www.venturalandtrust.org/events. Space is limited. Find more OAKtober resources at www.venturalandtrust.org/oaktober.
About Dr. David White
Once Upon a Watershed Program Director Dr. David White has a B.S. in Biological Sciences and Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He has been involved in numerous environmental groups in Ventura County for the past 25 years. In addition to running Once upon a Watershed, he is also the Executive Director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture. One of Dave’s favorite things to do is to plant trees with kids.
About Melina Watts
Melina Sempill Watts’ first novel Tree won best new fiction at Beverly Hills Book Awards last year, while her first book event was at Los Angeles Times Book Festival. Her writing appears in such venues as the New York Times motherlode blog Earth Island Journal, Sierra Magazine and elsewhere.
Watts began her career in Hollywood as a development executive, writing consultant and story analyst working for such luminaries Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Peter Horton and at DreamWorks. Watts has worked in conservation for such clients as The Bay Foundation, Heal the Bay, UCLA Extension, Malibu Boys and Girls Club (pro bono,) G3, Green Gardens Group, North State Public Radio (pro bono) Fall River Resource Conservation District, Friends of Butte Creek and New Consensus, a non-profit focusing on New Green Deal. She completed a USDA-NRCS contract for the Glenn County Resource Conservation District. She is a Watershed Coordinator in Los Angeles County.
About Bryant Baker
Los Padres ForestWatch Conservation Director Bryant Baker has over nine years of experience in land and water conservation, community outreach, and soil and water research. He holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s in Environmental, Soil, and Water Science from the University of Arkansas. Bryant worked for several years in an aquatic ecology laboratory where he conducted ecological experiments and published peer-reviewed scientific papers. He later went on to work as a program manager for a watershed conservation organization. As Conservation Director, Bryant analyzes technical documents, writes comments on projects undergoing environmental review, pens articles in local news publications, monitors the latest scientific literature on ecology and land management, develops and coordinates volunteer field projects, and gives community presentations on topics such as wildfire mitigation. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Ventura-based nonprofit, Runners for Public Lands.
About Ventura Land Trust
The mission of Ventura Land Trust is to permanently protect the land, water, wildlife and scenic beauty of the Ventura region for current and future generations. Founded in 2003, Ventura Land Trust believes that preserving open space and providing public access enhances the economy, quality of life, and public well-being of Ventura and surrounding communities. The organization currently owns and manages land along the Ventura River and in the Ventura hillsides, including the 2,100-acre Harmon Canyon Preserve, opened in June 2020. Harmon Canyon Preserve is Ventura’s first large-scale nature preserve. All preserves are open to the public daily from dawn to dusk for free. Ventura Land Trust received accreditation by the Land Trust Alliance in 2019. Learn more and become a member at www.venturalandtrust.org.