Ventura Land Trust Cleans Ventura River One Week at a Time

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) - Every Wednesday morning, Ventura Land Trust meets at the Willoughby Preserve to clean the Ventura River as part of their Willoughby Preservation River Restoration project where they along with volunteers remove trash and invasive species. 

The Willoughby Preserve can be found upstream from the Ventura River Estuary running adjacent to the Ojai-Ventura Bike Trail and consists of 9 acres of protected land. The Willoughby Preserve was made by the Ventura Land Trust along with volunteers and partners of the organization  in 2012 to protect the area from encampments, garbage and invasive plant species. 

 Various invasive plant species can be found throughout Ventura River and the Willoughby Preserve including giant reed, mustard plants, thistles, and annual grasses. These plants can negatively affect the surrounding environment by means such as drying up the surrounding area including the river and taking nutrients from native plants preventing them from spreading and lessening the food sources for native wildlife. 

Ventura Land Trust is a community based, non-profit organization founded in 2003 that aims to preserve the land, water and wildfire in Ventura County. Ventura Land Trust currently has around 3,798 acres of protected lands over seven preserves. These areas such as the Harmon Canyon are accessible to the public. 

For information on the Willoughby Preservation River Restoration project and how to volunteer, click here.