COSF News   (October 2007)                                    

Conejo Open Space Foundation 2007 Fall Membership Drive
The Conejo Valley community is acutely aware of the adverse effects of urban sprawl, and it realizes that planned growth must be balanced with open space preservation to maintain our quality of life and land values. Please join us in what may be a unique opportunity to assure that our planned open space ring is completed and that the beautiful views we enjoy today are preserved for our enjoyment and for future generations to come.

To join, to renew your membership, or perhaps to upgrade to a family membership, please use our online application. For more information, email Maryjane MacLeod at membership@cosf.org, or Julie Osborn at volunteer@cosf.org. Your membership dues and donations are tax-deductible. Funds received may used in several ways -- to maintain or enhance our existing open space, to acquire additional open space, or to educate the community, especially our children, as to their role as custodians and protectors of our open space.


17th Annual Conejo Open Space Trail Work Day
Scheduled for October 13, 2007 (rain date October 20), this event brings together hikers, equestrians, mountain bikers, and open space enthusiasts - all in support of the COSCA trail system.

Meet at 7:30 a.m. at Conejo Community Center Park in Thousand Oaks, Botanic Garden entrance off Gainsborough Road. Youth programs will be held at the Thousand Oaks Botanic Garden. Buses will take trail work volunteers to work sites in the Conejo Valley, where Rangers and qualified trail crew leaders will supervise all work crews. Each volunteer will receive a free sack breakfast, and following the trail work, participants will be treated to a barbecue lunch sponsored by Carlson Building Materials of Thousand Oaks. During the barbecue, there will be drawings where participants will be eligible to win prizes, including the grand prize: a mountain bike donated by Bill's Bike Shop of Camarillo.

For more information, contact Ginny Bowers at twd@cosf.org, or the COSCA Ranger office at 805-381-2741.


SMMTC and CLU volunteers work on Wildwood's Eagle Point Trail
Eagle Point is a lovely area in Wildwood Park - it's past the waterfall and along the wooded stream. On Saturday, September 29th, volunteers from the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council (SMMTC) joined forces with student volunteers from California Lutheran University's Service Day to perform a trail maintenance project on the 0.33 mile Eagle Point Trail. Seven volunteers from CLU teamed with six volunteers from the Trails Council for the effort. The crew performed minor brush clearance and improvement of erosion damage on the trail. The tasks included the reopening of a short section of trail, which had become closed off due to the heavy brush and poison oak. The other significant accomplishments of the day were improvements to the stream crossing and to the connector trail near the picnic area. Old, rotted steps were removed and a new gentle sloping tread was installed leading down to the streambed. On the other side of the stream, the tread was widened and steps repaired. Regular visitors to this area will notice these improvements immediately, - and all visitors will appreciate Eagle Point Trail as one of the many beautiful and tranquil areas in Wildwood Park.


COSTAC and COSF volunteers greet visitors to Wildwood Park
At the Trailhead Outreach on September 29, 2007, volunteers representing the Conejo Open Space Trails Advisory Committee (COSTAC) and the Conejo Open Space Foundation (COSF) met many visitors to Wildwood Park and exchanged lots of information. Volunteers also supplied Conejo Open Space trail maps and literature. Another Outreach is scheduled at Wildwood on Sunday, October 7th.


New COSCA Manager introduced at COSTAC meeting
Kristin Foord, the new Manager of the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA) attended the October meeting of the Conejo Open Space Trails Advisory Committee (COSTAC). Ms Foord came to COSCA from Massachusetts where she was Director of Land Protection for State Fish and Game. Prior to that, she worked as Land Policy Coordinator for Massachusetts Executive office of Environmental Affairs and with The Nature Conservancy. Ms Foord has extensive experience with land acquisition and land stewardship - one project resulted in protection of 9,000 acres (made up of 200 parcels held by 100 owners). She has been involved in 30 land protection projects that protected almost 3,000 acres.


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