Love the Land

To love the land you run is to care about the human and natural communities connected to it, care about its history, and care about its future, all while ensuring equitable access to it and its benefits

Overview:

Love the Land is inspired by our desire to do more for the places we love. Our local event will be focused on cleaning up and advocating for change in one of our favorite local areas, Santa Paula Canyon. This is more than just a trash clean up, it's a collaboration and coming together of our local community to take action, advocate, and acknowledge what it means to respect and love our local public lands. Runners and hikers will combine forces to get into the backcountry to run, hike, haul, and learn about this beautiful place. 

What: Run and Hike to clean up our local Santa Paula Canyon! Presented by RPL and LPFW!

Why: Santa Paula Canyon is one of the most heavily trafficked trails in the area and it needs our help to clean it up! 

Schedule of Events:

 -Arrive by 7:30 am at Steckel Park for check in!

 -Shuttles from Steckel Park to trailhead begin: 8:00 am

 -Event starts: 8:30 am

 -8:30 am Runners and Hikers begin 

 -10:30 am Runners/Hikers head back to trailhead

 -11:30 am - 12:00 pm Shuttles start back to Steckel Park

 -12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Canyon Care 101 talk with Bryant “The Shrublander” Baker

  -BYOPicnic and Beers from our own local Topa Topa!

The Run:

-Runners have the option to run between 4-6 miles, going deeper into the canyon to help clean up areas around the falls and other high-trash areas

-Runners are provided with trash bags and will work together with hikers to haul back to our trash collection station

-Detailed map to come!

-All levels and abilities welcome!

The Hike:

-Hikers have the option to hike between 2-4 miles, focusing on trash pick up along the earlier stretches of the trail

-Hikers will join forces with runners to haul out trash from the main collection areas mid trail

-Detailed map to come!

-All levels and abilities welcome!

Canyon Care 101 - 12:30 PM

 -Stick around to learn from local LPFW expert, Bryant “The Shrublander” Baker!

Chat focused on:

Stewardship: 
-Let’s talk a little bit about leave no trace
-How to Advocate: for better policies that will keep beloved places like Santa Paula Canyon protected from dangerous oil drilling practices.
-Canyon Care 101: Education for sustainable use (love the land, but not too much)
The Story of the Land: Acknowledgement and education for local community around the deep and troubling history of desecration and erasure of Chumash community.

Things to Bring: 

-BYO reusable water bottle

-BYOLunch, we will have some snacks available at Steckel Park

-Wear trail appropriate shoes

-Sunscreen or sun protective clothing

-Bag or pack for collecting trash - we will provide trash bags as well

-Gloves, we only have a limited amount to share

-$5 for parking at Steckel Park (recommend cash)

-Mask required, limited amount available on site

-Proof of vaccination required at check-in for each registered volunteer

*If we are experiencing inclement weather, we will notify all registered volunteers within 24 hours, and follow up with an additional date to volunteer!

The US Forest Service recently issued a notice that National Forests in California, including trails, are closed from 12:00 PM, August 31, 2021 through September 17, 2021. It is also possible that this closure is extended beyond September 17, 2021 (a similar closure occurred last year and was extended). This closure is meant to help reduce the possibility of human-caused wildfires and free up resources to help in areas currently burning. Due to this closure, it is possible that our Love the Land event may be altered, cancelled, or postponed with little or no notice. We are currently working internally on a contingency plan and will issue a notice of any changes as soon as we can. Thank you for your understanding! 

Click here for more info on Runners For Public Lands

Click here for more info on LPFW