Ventura County
Ventura County
What a year for VCRCD! In 2025, we grew our programs, welcomed 4 new hires, bid a bittersweet farewell to coworkers embarking on their next journeys, and expanded our fundraising efforts through the creation of our Development Team. With the help of our board, staff, Development Team, and our community, we successfully completed our first Giving Tuesday campaign— From the Ground Up— where we raised $3,176 and donated 10% of our proceeds to local food banks.
This year, our Restoration Team enhanced pollinator and native habitats, monitoring over 10 acres of land. Additionally, our Agriculture Team managed 14 agricultural grant programs this year prioritizing water quality and conservation, greenhouse emissions, soil health, extreme weather relief, and organic transition. Our Fire Ecology team implemented 53 acres of prescribed burning all while strengthening partnerships and expanding their efforts across the region to support more resilient communities and healthier fire-adapted landscapes. Woven into all of our efforts is our strong commitment to local education and community engagement. We could not have done any of our work without the support and dedication of our staff, partners, volunteers, and community. From the bottom of our hearts here at VCRCD, thank you for a wonderful year!
The Wildlife and Restoration Team spent most of 2025 caring for over 10 acres of monarch breeding and overwintering habitat across Ventura County, supporting more than 4,700 native plants. This work included weeding, maintenance, and replanting as needed.
Our breeding habitats are located on school campuses, a golf course, city parks, and nonprofit lands. We registered all of our breeding habitats as MonarchWatch Waystations, one of our WCB grant deliverables. We purchased signs indicating Monarch Waystation registration for each breeding site and we designed large infographic signs with a description of the Monarch Flyway that include advice on native plants and other ways for the public to help monarchs. Both of these will be installed in all of our habitats!
Many established sites no longer use drip irrigation, so new plants must be watered by hand until seasonal rains arrive. For this reason, most large plantings take place in fall and winter. On November 1, 13 volunteers helped plant over 200 native plants at Girl Scout Camp Arnaz in the Ventura River watershed, where we have restored more than two acres of former weedy areas. We also converted turfgrass into monarch and pollinator habitat at two Pleasant Valley Recreation & Parks District parks, creating welcoming spaces for the community and wildlife alike!
We continue working with a private organic farmer, the City of Ventura, and California State Parks to improve monarch butterfly overwintering sites identified by the Xerces Invertebrate Society. Many of these sites have large, older trees but lack the native nectar plants monarchs need during winter. On a rainy April day, 20 volunteers helped plant the first two nectar sites along the barranca at Camino Real Park in Ventura. By carefully considering species seasonality, selected plants bloom at different times throughout the year to provide continuous support for monarchs and other pollinators. The City has agreed to restore additional sites there, making this park one of the most important overwintering locations in our area!
At state parks along PCH, in addition to nectar sources we also plant young trees to support monarchs along the coast. At an overwintering site on an organic strawberry farm, VCRCD coordinated removal of fallen large trees to reduce fire threat while making space for habitat plantings. After space was created for nectar plants, VCRCD’s Restoration Team and dedicated volunteers installed about 1000 flowering and nectar shrubs and bushes. At seven sites across three Oak Park Unified School District campuses, we continue to care for habitats that are now maturing and supporting a wide variety of wildlife and pollinators.
When we’re not caring for native plants, our Wildlife and Restoration Team participates in outreach events such as Ventura Earth Day, OVLC’s Monarch Day, and Boo at the Zoo at Moorpark College. At our table we provide kid-oriented activities to draw them into the world of pollinators, sometimes by making their own insect antennae or creating a “seed bomb” to spread wildflowers at home. Along with engaging the kids, vital information on monarch conservation and native plants is shared with adult audiences to encourage participation and long-term interest in community restoration efforts.
2025 was another abundant year for VCRCD’s Ag team! We continued to expand upon our technical and financial assistance offerings for farmers, ranchers and stewards in our county and region. This year we’ve doubled our ag staff and launched 6 new grant programs! Our 14 agricultural grant programs this year prioritized water quality, water conservation, greenhouse emissions, soil health, extreme weather relief, organic transition, and educational needs identified by our community. Our programs aided over 300 beneficiaries, with 60% being Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers. We’re proud to have made a significant impact on our agriculture community in 2025 and are grateful for the opportunity to continue this work in 2026.
Over 15,000 acres of agriculture land benefited from our programs. 6,530+ MTCO2e of carbon was sequestered through Healthy Soils practices this year— this is equivalent to saving 734,781 gallons of gasoline from being consumed!
If you are a farmer, rancher, producer, or want to stay up to date with the Agriculture Team, sign up for our Agriculture Newsletter.
This year, our Fire Ecology team grew in capacity, strengthened partnerships, and expanded our efforts across the region to support more resilient communities and healthier fire-adapted landscapes. We continued to serve as a co-coordinator for the Ventura County Wildfire Collaborative and as the lead agency for the Ventura County Prescribed Burn Association.
At the end of 2024, the Ventura County Wildfire Collaborative was awarded with a $3 million dollar CalFire Fire Prevention grant to reduce hazardous fuels throughout Ventura County. The Collaborative is set to complete an online dashboard for tracking projects that help build wildfire resilience by Spring of 2026, which will be publicly available on the VCRCD website.
The Ventura County Prescribed Burn Association had an incredibly productive season. With support from our CalFire Fire Prevention grant and the addition of our new Fire Preparedness Coordinator, we successfully facilitated the implementation of prescribed fire across 53 acres. This accomplishment reflects the tremendous effort and coordination of our dedicated partners, collaborators, and volunteers — we truly couldn’t have done it without them.
We conducted 6 Wildfire Preparedness Plan Workshops to seek community feedback on top priorities and concerns regarding wildfire risk. Input from these workshops will be included in our Ventura County wide Wildfire Preparedness priority plan and online dashboard in 2026.
The VCPBA hosts bi-monthly FREE Fire Ecology Speaker Series targeted to the community of Ventura County. This is an opportunity for the community to engage with fire ecology experts. View our 2025 Fire Ecology Speaker Series.
This season also marked an exciting milestone for our program: In partnership with UCANR Cooperative Extension and the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, we are studying how prescribed fire can help reduce the spread and impacts of invasive yellow starthistle. This work will contribute meaningful, locally grounded data to guide future land stewardship strategies across Ventura County. For a closer look at this project, see pages 8–9 of the Open Spaces Summer newsletter from the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy.
For 2026, we have 20 piles ready to burn at three different sites: Mama Tree, Quail Springs, and a site in Somis. We hope to continue planning for the broadcast burn season and to finish up our Regional Priority Plan.
The Education & Outreach Team witnessed a shift in leadership this year. In September, we said goodbye to Heidi Ortloff as our Education & Outreach Coordinator and welcomed Mary Reyes, Heidi’s intern, in her place! We want to thank Heidi for her dedication and significant impact she has had on conservation education and engagement throughout Ventura County during her time here at VCRCD.
In 2025, we continued our commitment to public outreach, youth education, and community engagement through volunteer days, informational webinars, and various outreach events. Additionally, we started our first blog, Conservation Corner, where we share program updates and VCRCD news.
We attended or hosted over 30 events, engaging with over 1,400 community members. To everyone who attended a planting day, read our newsletters, watched our webinars, volunteered at Coastal Cleanup Day, and visited our tables at events, we thank you tremendously. Each year we are inspired by our community and their drive to create change and give back to our environment here in Ventura County. We look forward to continuing our work in 2026!
VCRCD serves as the Regional Coordinator for California’s Coastal Cleanup Day. This year, Ventura County hosted 18 sites and cleaned up over 7,000 pounds of trash from 29 miles of coastal or inland waterways. A big thank you to the Coastal Commission, Ocean Conservancy, Heidi Ortloff, site captains, and of course the volunteers!
VCRCD currently holds coordinator roles for two of Ventura County’s watersheds— the Ventura River Watershed and the Santa Clara River Watershed. Together, the Ventura River Watershed Council and the Santa Clara River Watershed Committee serve as the primary convening bodies for watershed-wide education, information sharing, and collaborative planning. They represent the region’s capacity for coordinated problem-solving that is ultimately rooted in shared stewardship of our community.
This year deepened collaboration and momentum across both groups. The Santa Clara River Watershed Committee established a Steering Committee to guide the development of a formal charter, laying the groundwork for long-term structure, shared leadership, and effective collaboration. Meanwhile, the Ventura River Watershed was selected as one of only five watersheds statewide to receive funding from the California Department of Water Resources to participate in the Watershed Resilience Program pilot. Through this effort, we conducted countywide climate hazard vulnerability assessments, developed tools to map and strengthen our watershed network, and invested significant time in relationship-building and refining shared watershed goals. Feedback from this pilot will inform future iterations of the program, with the hope that a refined version will be implemented through the Department of Water Resources across California.
Collectively, the watershed groups convened over 20 watershed-related meetings throughout the year, distributed newsletters to more than 600 subscribers, and expanded community engagement through a variety of educational presentations, outreach, and tabling events. Highlights included a discussion with some of our water districts about responses to recent fires and what operations look like during Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events, a field trip with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife focused on the current status of Southern steelhead trout in the Ventura River, participation in the Southern Steelhead Symposium, the Ventura Agri-Tech Fair, the Localizing California Waters Conference, and the Walk in the Watershed hosted by Supervisor Matt LaVere. These events helped grow awareness, deepen partnerships, and build momentum for watershed-based work across the county.
Beyond coordination and convening, the RCD continues to play an active role in implementing on-the-ground projects that directly support watershed health. This includes watershed-wide Arundo removal efforts, Ventura River in-stream flow enhancement projects, and providing technical and financial assistance to farmers transitioning to organic practices, improving soil health, and upgrading irrigation systems. The RCD also develops management practice plans to address subwatershed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) exceedances and implements prescribed fire to reduce invasive species and hazardous fuel loads—supporting both ecosystem resilience and community safety.
Looking ahead to 2026, priorities include finalizing the Santa Clara River Watershed Committee Charter, completing the Ventura River Watershed Resilience Plan, and strategically pursuing funding to move from planning to implementation. Together, these efforts position our watershed groups to continue growing as effective, inclusive, and action-oriented platforms for watershed-wide stewardship.
The next Ventura River Watershed Council forum is in February 2026. Learn more about the Ventura River Watershed Council.
The next Santa Clara River Watershed Committee meeting is in February 2026. Learn more about the Santa Clara River Watershed Committee.
we are thankful for our partners & community members that contributed to our efforts in 2025. We look forward to expanding our work in 2026 by bringing new programs, ideas, and services to Ventura COunty.
