On Saturday, October 13, a group of 14 ForestWatch volunteers spent the morning removing trash from around Cannon Creek, a small tributary to North Fork Matilija Creek just north of Ojai. In only a few short hours, they removed over 1,100 pounds of trash and scrap metal from the area.
Cannon Creek is an often-seen but little-known stream near Holiday Group Campground and Hwy 33 north of Wheeler Gorge. The creek joins North Fork Matilija Creek near Wheeler Gorge Campground. The entire area is within the Thomas Fire perimeter, and many areas burned significantly during the fire. One area that drains into Cannon Creek just above Holiday Group Campground was burned, revealing decades-old trash among new chaparral growth. In fact, much of the trash was likely there before the Wheeler Fire burned the same area in 1985.
After meeting at the Los Padres National Forest entrance near Wheeler Gorge and loading up on donuts and supplies, the volunteer crew carpooled up Hwy 33 to the Cannon Creek area. There they focused most of their time around one tributary to Cannon Creek upslope from Holiday Group Campground. The group fanned out, carefully walking through the regrowing chaparral and removing large and small pieces of trash. The primary finds were typical: beer cans and bottles as well as a substantial amount of broken glass. Unusual finds included a rusted water heater, multiple 50-gallon steel drums, old car batteries (which we were able to dispose of at a facility in Santa Barbara County), hub caps, pieces of cars from the 1950s or 60s, and what was left of an old wheelbarrow.
Altogether, the volunteers removed 680 pounds of scrap metal that we were able to recycle at a scrap metal facility in Oxnard as well as 420 pounds of trash. Thanks to all of the volunteers who came out and helped!
If you want to get more involved with volunteering for ForestWatch, be sure to sign up for our email alerts and check out our list of upcoming projects.
Check out more photos from the cleanup below:
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