Author: ForestWatch

Two new laws expand how California protects wildlife movement, improves road crossings, and helps communities reduce conflicts with wildlife.

The bill makes equitable access to parks, public lands, and outdoor recreation a lasting state commitment.

This September, Los Padres ForestWatch marked Latino Conservation Week with two community gatherings, one in Santa Barbara and one in Oxnard. At both, families and partners came together to learn more about our public lands, native plants, wildlife, celebrate our heritage, and talk about how we can each help protect the places we love.  Elings…

Chances are, if you’ve spent time exploring Los Padres National Forest, you’ve already traveled through an Inventoried Roadless Area without realizing it.

The Trump administration has formally proposed eliminating the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a move that could remove longstanding protections from more than 44 million acres of national forest lands across the country, including 635,000 acres in Los Padres National Forest. On August 18, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that the U.S. Forest Service…

These are places where mountains meet the sea, rivers still run wild, condors soar overhead, wildflowers blanket the hillsides, and miles of backcountry stretch beyond the horizon. They provide clean water, wildlife habitat, opportunities for recreation, and a connection to nature that is increasingly rare.

Los Padres ForestWatch has expanded its leadership team with the appointment of Adam Morrison as Director of Development, Michelle Sevilla as Director of Organizing & Partnerships, and Shady Hakim as Director of Operations. The three appointments strengthen the organization’s ability to protect public lands and wildlife, build regional partnerships, and engage more people in conservation…

The Bureau of Land Management is proposing changes to federal oil and gas leasing regulations that would sharply reduce financial assurance, or bonding, requirements for drilling companies and expand opportunities to lease public lands for development.

The Trump administration has finalized a rule that weakens how one of the nation’s most important wildlife laws—the Endangered Species Act (ESA)—is implemented. The decision rescinds a decades-old regulatory definition of the word “harm,” making it much harder to hold people accountable for destroying habitat that endangered species rely on to survive. While the ESA…

Our sold-out Forest Academy Animal Tracking workshop at the Santa Clara River Preserve on Saturday, July 11, was great fun—and incredibly informative. After discovering that access to the river basin was blocked by abundant spring growth, our expert leaders, Wyatt Harris and Martyn LeNoble, adapted the plan. They scouted the roads and parking area early…

ForestWatch GIS analysis finds proposed lease parcels overlap Health Protection Zones and protected wildlife habitat

Environmental organizations across California are condemning Trump’s Bureau of Land Management’s approval of oil and gas leasing and development plans for both the Bakersfield and Central Coast field office regions—a decision that critics argue was a rushed, legally deficient move that ignores California law, bypasses the public, and offers some of the state’s most beloved…