Community Unites To Protect Ojai’s Wildlife

By Sally Rice

A small group of environmental activists and residents of Rancho Matilija gathered for brunch Saturday at the home of Alanna Tarkington to celebrate a two-year program implemented by locals (in collaboration with the homeowner’s association) to help turn their neighborhood “green.” The primary focus of many concerned Rancho Matilija residents has been to reduce the use of pesticides for weed abatement, and to modify the timing and methods of clearing brush from undeveloped lots in the neighborhood and surrounding landscapes —- all with the purpose of reducing risk and mortality to wildlife in the area.

Joining the Ojai group was Wayne Pacelle, CEO and president of the Humane Society of the United States, who was in Ojai as part of a national book tour for his New York Times best-seller, “The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them.” After his Rancho Matilija tour, Pacelle visited Primavera Gallery in downtown to hold a reception and book signing. Read More»