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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

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