Land Management Plan - Part 2 Los Padres National Forest Strategy
Land Management Plan - Part 2 Los Padres National Forest Strategy
Land Management Plan - Part 2 Los Padres National Forest Strategy
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September 2005 <strong>Land</strong> <strong>Management</strong> <strong>Plan</strong> <strong>Part</strong> 2<br />
<strong>Los</strong> <strong>Padres</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Forest</strong> <strong>Strategy</strong><br />
Ojai - Piru Front Country<br />
Theme: The Ojai-Piru Front<br />
Country Place serves as the scenic backdrop for the communities<br />
and urban areas at the foot of the national forest. The Ojai-Piru Front Country provides day-use<br />
recreation opportunities and<br />
access points for extended stays in the interior of the national forest.<br />
The bluffs, rock outcrops and<br />
steep landscapes hint at the rugged Back Country just beyond.<br />
<strong>Land</strong>scape retention, watershed<br />
protection and day-use recreation are typical themes of urban<br />
interface front-country areas. Oil and<br />
gas operations have occurred in a few locations in this<br />
Place for many years.<br />
Setting: The Ojai-Piru Front<br />
Country Place follows San<br />
Cayetano Fault from Ojai across the front of the Topa<br />
Topa Mountains and Santa Paula<br />
Ridge to the mouth of<br />
the Sespe River and past<br />
Fillmore and Piru to the<br />
eastern national forest<br />
boundary near the <strong>Los</strong><br />
Angeles/Ventura County<br />
line. It forms a scenic,<br />
mountainous backdrop to Lake Casitas, Lake Piru, and<br />
the Ojai and Santa Clara Valleys. Terrain varies from<br />
low rolling hills to steep, high<br />
mountains near the<br />
urban-rural interface.<br />
Several communities, extensive<br />
farmlands and historic oil fields border the Place. Oil<br />
was first discovered in California just off-forest in Santa<br />
Paula Canyon where natural oil seeps are prevalent. The<br />
Ojai-Piru Front Country provides several entry points of<br />
access to the Matilija and Sespe Wildernesses and borders the Condor Sanctuary. Early<br />
homesteads are present near Piru, and the first gold discovered in California (pre-dating the<br />
Sierran Gold Rush) was found just east of the national forest in Santa Felicia Canyon.<br />
Numerous rivers and streams, like Sespe Creek, Piru Creek, Santa Paula Creek, and Matilija<br />
Creek flow southward from interior watersheds of the Transverse Mountain Range. Water quality<br />
is generally good. Domestic and agricultural water sources have been extensively developed<br />
along the front, including diversions, springs, wells, and tunnels that tap both surface and<br />
groundwater emanating from national forest land. Mountain peaks often exceed 4,000 feet in<br />
elevation, the highest being the Topa Topa bluffs at 6,367 feet. The ruggedness of these peaks is<br />
due to the high tectonic activity in these mountains explaining why earthquakes and landslides<br />
are not uncommon.<br />
Page 67<br />
Ojai Valley, Ojai Piru Front Country Place.<br />
Photo by Tom Iraci