Author: Keri Setnicka
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Our 2025 Impact Report Has Arrived!
2 min read
In 2025, communities across California’s Central Coast came together to protect wildlife habitat, oppose expanded oil development, advance wildfire resilience, and connect more youth and families with nature. Today, Los Padres ForestWatch is proud to share our first-ever Impact Report—a reflection on the work, landscapes, and community behind a year of conservation across California’s Central…
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Trump Administration Dismantles the Public Lands Rule, Weakening Conservation Protections Across the West
4 min read
On May 11, 2026, the Department of the Interior announced the repeal of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Lands Rule eliminating a landmark conservation framework that placed conservation on equal footing with grazing, mining, and drilling across 245 million acres of public lands.
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Trail Talks series explores the Sespe Wilderness—The Southern Los Padres National Forest’s largest protected backcountry
4 min read
Local public lands experts and explorers will take audiences deep into the Sespe Wilderness, the largest protected Wilderness area in the southern Los Padres National Forest, in an upcoming Trail Talks event at the Faulkner Gallery at the Santa Barbara Public Library on Thursday, May 21.
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Celebrating Topa Topa, the condor who helped save a species from extinction
5 min read
Topa Topa—the oldest living California condor—celebrates his 60th birthday this month. His story is a remarkable one, beginning with his capture as a young condor in a remote canyon of Los Padres National Forest.
