Ventura Land Trust celebrates 20 years of conservation in 2023, starting with a free community birthday party on Friday, May 19th at Topa Topa Brewing Company (4880 Colt Street, Ventura, 93003) from 6-9 pm.
“From the beginning, this has been a community endeavor,” says Ventura Land Trust (VLT) Executive Director Melissa Baffa. “We were started 20 years ago by a concerned group of citizens who wanted to protect the hillsides north of the city from development. They wanted the natural beauty of those hills to be preserved for generations to come, and that mission still holds true today.”
Founded in 2003 as Ventura Hillsides Conservancy, Ventura Land Trust (VLT) protected its first parcels of land along the Ventura Rive—donated by local families—in 2012. VLT stepped into the spotlight in 2020 with the opening of the 2,123-acre Harmon Canyon Preserve. Open daily for free, Harmon Canyon Preserve has been embraced by the community as a recreation destination and as a place to experience nature’s beauty and diversity close to home.
The threatened hillside land that inspired the organization’s founding, Mariano Rancho, was purchased by VLT in 2019 and is expected to open to the public as a nature preserve in 2025.
The community spirit and support that has sustained VLT for two decades continues to drive its conservation work. Each year, hundreds of volunteers work alongside staff on land restoration projects and community outreach, and hundreds of thousands of individuals visit VLT preserves.
“Not all land trusts open their conserved lands to the public,” says Baffa. “For VLT, welcoming visitors to these open spaces is an both an invitation to experience how special they are and a call to action. When we connect people to nature, they understand why it’s worth protecting.”
VLT offers guided hikes and field-based educational excursions in English and Spanish. Nature exploration program Ventura Wild fosters a sense of belonging and awareness of the natural world for children as young as two years old.
“Looking ahead from here, we are digging into the science of nurturing biodiverse habitats that are resilient in the face of climate change. We’re building a land trust that reflects the full diversity of our region and welcomes everyone into open spaces,” says Baffa.
“Twenty years may seem like a long time, but for nature, it’s barely a blink. VLT is really just getting started on the promise we’ve made to protect these open spaces forever. It’s a big promise, but we are sharing this vision and work with so many other people, businesses, and organizations. It makes our community and our planet stronger.”
Learn more about Ventura Land Trust at www.venturalandtrust.org.
