Recent News from our Blog

New Speaker Series: Jaclyn DeSantis presents “Wild Neighbors: Raptors, Rehab, and the Human Connection”

  Please join us November 19 for the live online presentation of “Wild Neighbors: Raptors, Rehabilitation, and the Human Connection” with Jaclyn DeSantis, education program manager at the Ojai Raptor Center. She will talk about how hawks, owls and eagles end up needing rehabilitation care, what that process involves, and what you can do to help our wild raptor neighbors survive and Read more

By Anne Russell, ago

2025 Fall COSF Newsletter

The fall edition of the Conejo Open Space Foundation newsletter has been posted. In this edition… Announcing Plantpalooza 2025 – October 11 : New COSCA ranger Will Haver : Summary of speaker event “Lions and fires and humans, Oh deer!” : Focus on Robin Bertolucci, our newest board member : and Much More! View our Fall Conejo Open Space Newsletter.

By Steve Clark, ago
Hummingbird sage

Native Plantpalooza & Eco Fest is back for 2025, bigger and better than ever

Native Plantpalooza & Eco Fest is returning for a fourth year! Please join COSF for our free educational festival featuring dozens of eco-related exhibitors and fun activities for kids. The community event will be held rain or shine on Saturday, October 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Lakeside, Conejo Creek North Park, in Thousand Oaks. Plus, if you Read more

By Anne Russell, ago

Summer ‘Four Seasons’ photo contest winner is Mike Moessl—again!

Congratulations are due once again to Mike Moessl, who submitted this photo of a sunrise seen from the Lang Ranch Open Space for our Summer “Four Seasons” photo contest. Mike also won the Spring wildflower challenge with his photo of woolly blue curls. For Autumn ‘Four Seasons’ contest our challenge subject is the Conejo Valley’s iconic oak trees. Deadline for entry is Read more

By Anne Russell, ago

Wildlife researcher Ellie Bolas reveals the private lives of local mule deer—see her recorded presentation

Visit China Flat, Conejo Canyons, Rancho Sierra Vista or Satwiwa as the sun is rising. Watch in anticipation as it casts delicate morning light on the open canopy of the oak savanna, the frosted tips of wild oats and desiccated sagebrush—and wait. You just might see the unmistakable glimmer of a mule deer’s summer coat. “I’ll often bring my binoculars, Read more

By Anne Russell, ago

Spring ‘Four Seasons’ photo contest winner is Mike Moessl

Congratulation to Mike Moessl, who submitted this photo of woolly blue curls that he took in the Lang Ranch Open Space! Photo challenge for the Summer “Four Seasons” contest is sunrises and sunsets as seen from the Conejo Open Spaces. If you would like to enter future contests, here are the rules: Every season, we’ll identify a specific item (e.g., Read more

By Anne Russell, ago
COSF 2025 Eco Scholarship winner Isabella Lee

Update on COSF’s 2025 Eco Scholarship Award

Isabella Lee is COSF’s new 2025 Environmental Studies scholar. Isabella, who graduated from Thousand Oaks High School, replaces Greceldy Hau as the recipient of one of COSF’s two scholarship awards because Greceldy will be pursuing a college major other than environmental studies. Isabella says that her determination to work toward a professional role in mitigating climate change stems from her Read more

By Anne Russell, ago

The 2025 Trails Education Days writing contest winners; the 2026 event will be April 20 – 23

The 2025 Trails Education Days provided lessons on open space for 1,080 Conejo 4th grade students from all 17 CVUSD elementary schools during the week of April 28. Writing Contest The students who participate in Trails Education Days are invited to enter a letter-writing contest to describe some of the things they learned during their Trails Education Days experience. Two winners from Read more

By Steve Clark, ago

New Speaker Series talk: Ellie Bolas presents “Lions and Fires and Humans, Oh Deer!”

Please join us for the live online presentation of “Lions and Fires and Humans, Oh Deer!” by ecologist Ellie Bolas. Currently a PhD candidate at the University of California Davis (UCD), Bolas will discuss how mule deer in the Santa Monica Mountains and Conejo Valley navigate a dynamic landscape of risks and rewards. Bolas’s research in partnership with the National Read more

By Steve Clark, ago