C.R.E.W. gets steelhead grant
By Lenny Roberts

What began a few years ago as an idea of putting kids to work cleaning up the environment has since evolved into conservation efforts at many levels.

Executive Director Wally McCall announced the nonprofit Concerned Resource Environmental Workers, C.R.E.W., has received a California Department of Fish and Game grant in the amount of $122,840 to be used to restore the southern steelhead trout habitat in Piedra Blanca Creek in the Sespe Wilderness section of Los Padres National Forest north of Ojai.

"Our goal is to reduce erosion of soils from multiple trails that currently exist," McCall explained. "By doing so, we can reduce the amount of sedimentation that flows into the steelhead spawning and rearing habitat." McCall added that the project will reduce hiker trampling and disturbances to creek by rebuilding the trail and rerouting it away from sensitive sections of the creek, and that beneficial shading of the creek will be accomplished by planting native vegetation in areas denuded by hikers.

The project, which is planned to begin during spring break in April 2004, will continue during summer vacation and resume in April 2005. The work will be performed by disadvantaged young adults from the Santa Clara and Ojai valleys, and starts at the junction of the Sespe wilderness river trail and leads north to Reyes Peak, passing through Piedra Blanca, Twin Peaks, Pine Mountain and Three-Mile campgrounds.

The U.S. Forest Service has promised $10,000 toward the project, that has been projected to cost $158,840. The balance will come from the Fish & Game and other C.R.E.W. Grants, McCall said.
"We are looking forward to collaborating with District Ranger John Bridgewater," McCall noted.

Last year, C.R.E.W., now operating in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Kern counties, provided work for 130 kids who performed 8,700 hours of paid work. The planned project is the C.R.E.W.'s second watershed habitat reconstruction program. The first was a similar project completed last year along the 19-mile-long stretch of the Sespe Trail.
"These environmental projects augment the significant fire protection services provided by the C.R.E.W., which has already built 15 miles of 300-foot-wide fuel breaks at Shelf, Fairview, Foothill and Sisar roads," McCall concluded.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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