View source for Arroyo Conejo Open Space

{{Short description|Park in Ventura County, California, United States}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Arroyo Conejo Open Space
| alt_name = La Branca (the Barranca)
| iucn_category =
| photo = La-Branca-Barranca-Newbury-Park-Arroyo-Conejo-Nature-Preserve-2016.jpg
| photo_alt =
| photo_caption = View of La Branca from the Arroyo Conejo Trail
| photo_width = 250px
| map = California##USA
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location in California##Location in United States
| map_width =
| relief = 1
| location = [[Ventura County, California]]
| nearest_city = [[Newbury Park, California|Newbury Park]]
| coordinates = {{coords|34|12|39.5|N|118|55|37.4|W|region:US-CA|display=inline, title}}
| area = {{Convert|302|acre}}
| established = July 1977
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body = Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA)
| url =
| child =
| embedded =
}}
'''Arroyo Conejo Open Space''' is a {{convert|302|acre|adj=on}} [[open space reserve]] in the western [[Simi Hills]] in northern [[Newbury Park, California|Newbury Park]], [[Ventura County, California]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Arroyo Conejo |url=http://www.conejo-openspace.org/arroyo-conejo.html |website=COSCA |access-date=27 July 2020}}</ref> Most of it is part of the {{convert|250|acre|adj=on}} '''Arroyo Conejo Nature Preserve''' (sometimes shortened to the '''Arroyo Nature Preserve''').<ref name="Maxwell 2002, Page 182">Maxwell, Thomas J. (2000). ''Hiking In Wildwood Regional Park: Natural History, Folklore, and Trail Guide''. California Lutheran University (CLU). Page 182.</ref>
==Geography==
[[File:Hill-Canyon-Wastewater-Plant-Wetlands-Newbury-Park.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant's [[constructed wetland]]s in [[Hill Canyon]]]]
The preserve is often locally referred to as '''La Branca''' or '''the Barranca''' (Spanish for "the canyon"),<ref name="Conejo Open Space">{{cite web |title=Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency |url=http://www.conejo-openspace.org/open_space_areas_in_TO.htm#Arroyo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209163754/http://conejo-openspace.org/open_space_areas_in_TO.htm#Arroyo |archive-date=2016-02-09 }} </ref><ref name="Love 2001">{{Cite web |url=http://www.theacorn.com/news/2001-01-18/Columns/50.html |title=There Goes the Neighborhood! &#124; January 18, 2001 &#124; www.theacorn.com &#124; The Acorn |access-date=2016-03-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310134413/http://www.theacorn.com/news/2001-01-18/Columns/50.html |archive-date=2016-03-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and is nicknamed the '''Grand Canyon of the Conejo Valley'''.<ref name="Los Angeles Times 1990">{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-05-me-2887-story.html|title = Designer Leads the Crusade to Save a Canyon : Thousand Oaks: Mark Murphy hopes the city will join his fight to clean up and preserve La Barranca, a 3-mile gorge threatened by development. |last=Pascual |first=Psyche |website = [[Los Angeles Times]]| date=5 November 1990 }}</ref><ref name="Love 2001" /> Its stated purpose is "the preservation of the scenic areas, natural habitats, wildlife, archaeological and paleontological sites of the [[Conejo Valley]] and surroundings, specifically including the [[Arroyo Conejo]]".<ref name="Maxwell 2002, Page 182" /> It contains 250 acres of land and has been administrated and owned by the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA) since its incorporation in July 1977.<ref>{{cite web |title=Air Quality, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Fuel Use |url=http://doorstoarrival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/SierraClubComments-FAA-SoCal-EA-Metroplex.pdf |publisher=Sierra Club - Angeles Chapter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726215201/http://doorstoarrival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/SierraClubComments-FAA-SoCal-EA-Metroplex.pdf |archive-date=2019-07-26 |date=2015-10-08}}</ref><ref name="Maxwell 2002, Page 182" /> La Branca is a narrow ravine or gorge that runs three miles from northern Newbury Park near the [[Rancho Conejo Playfields]], to  [[Hill Canyon]] near the Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Conejo Canyons Open Space.<ref name="Los Angeles Times 1990" /><ref name="Love 2001" />
La Branca has a [[gorge]] section with cliffs rising up to {{convert|300|ft}}.<ref name="Love 2001" /> The preserve is home to large variety of plant- and animal species, including for instance [[Western pond turtle|southwestern pond turtles]], [[mountain lions]], [[bobcats]], [[American black bear|black bear]]s, [[deer]], [[coyotes]], and avifauna such as [[quails]], [[golden eagle]]s, [[hawks]], [[owls]], and numerous others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://smmc.ca.gov/pdf/attachment70_Attachment.pdf |title=Conserve our Rural Environment |date=2005-02-15 |access-date=2016-03-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102023047/http://smmc.ca.gov/pdf/attachment70_Attachment.pdf |archive-date=2010-11-02 }} (Page 1).</ref> It contains the perennial South Fork of the [[Arroyo Conejo]], [[riparian zone]] vegetation, steep-sided canyons, [[California oak woodland]]s, as well as [[wetland]]s.<ref name="Conejo Open Space" />
===Wetlands===
The Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant has the largest [[constructed wetland]]s in [[Ventura County]], within approximately {{convert|15|acres}} of the Arroyo Conejo Nature Preserve. Natures Image has helped create this area by removal of [[invasive plant]] species, as well as the planting of 1,600 native trees, 7,000 emergent marsh plants, 6,000 low herbaceous wetland plants, and 1,200 riparian scrub plants. The area is home to the endemic [[Western pond turtle|Southwestern Pond Turtle]], as well as large numbers of [[mallards]], [[coots]], [[herons]], and numerous other species of freshwater fish and birds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naturesimage.net/pdfs/naturesimage-casestudy-hill-canyon-restoration.pdf |title=Hill Canyon Wetlands Restoration |access-date=2016-03-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310132742/http://www.naturesimage.net/pdfs/naturesimage-casestudy-hill-canyon-restoration.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-10 }}</ref>
==History==
The nature preserve was highlighted in the Conservation Element of the General Plan in 1972 and later identified in the City's Conejo Canyons Study of 1976 as an area with particularly sensitive and important resources.<ref name="Conejo Open Space" /> The president of the Conejo Valley Audubon Society met with representatives from [[The Nature Conservancy]] in 1974. One visitor during these meetings mentioned how incredible it was to "find such a primordial setting within the city limits of a [[Los Angeles]] [[bedroom community]]."<ref>Maxwell, Thomas J. (2000). ''Hiking In Wildwood Regional Park: Natural History, Folklore, and Trail Guide''. California Lutheran University (CLU). Page 181.</ref> On July 1, 1976, the Thousand Oaks-based ''News-Chronicle'' reported the formation of a Small Wilderness Area Preserves chapter to protect donated Canyon lands. Arroyo Conejo Nature Preserve was incorporated and organized in lieu of the Small Wilderness Group in July 1977.<ref name="Maxwell 2002, Page 182" />
== See also ==
* [[Wildwood Regional Park]]
* [[Conejo Canyons Open Space]]
* {{C|Simi Hills|Simi Hills topics}}
==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}{{Protected areas of California}}
[[Category:Nature reserves in California]]
[[Category:Parks in Ventura County, California]]
[[Category:Simi Hills]]
[[Category:Conejo Valley]]
[[Category:Geography of Thousand Oaks, California]]
[[Category:Newbury Park, California]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Ventura County, California]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1977]]
[[Category:1977 establishments in California]]