By Ian Sher

Since 1987, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy has assisted in keeping the Ojai valley beautiful, whether it is cleaning up hiking trails or pulling weeds, they are always there to help. OVLC has a simple mission, “To protect and restore the natural landscapes of the Ojai Valley forever.” At Weil we enjoy that beautiful landscape everyday, but we know that it needs protection to stay this way. This year, with the support of our principal Mrs. Morris, and Claire Woolson, OVLC’s Volunteer Coordinator, who makes it so easy to get involved, the Weil student body has organized multiple trips to help with their clean up and maintenance of the valley. In this work we have done trail maintenance on the gorgeous Ojai mountains and cleared brush in the Ventura river. On the trails we got dirty, and some of us such as Matthias Gouvenot and Asaf Alterman were particularly worried about our safety in poison oak infested areas. Don’t worry, we all made it out safely. 

In our first expedition the Weil Lions ventured into the Ventura river trails to help control and remove invasive species. This kept branches and weeds off the path making it a more enjoyable walk while protecting the river’s ecosystem at the same time. In the most recent adventure students hiked up one of the valley’s famous mountains, enjoying amazing scenery while helping keep the trails clean and safe. Doing this kind of work is hard, but Weil students almost always find a way to make things fun, which is why these trips are always filled up (we don’t have to mention their community service requirement).

Our valley’s needs change by season and we at Weil are excited to help any way we can. Whether it’s trail building, invasive species removal, or native species replanting we’re grateful for the opportunity to be a part of OVLC’s incredible work.