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Santa Clara River in new light
Exhibit features photos, animals
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Courtesy of Andrew Harvey This image by Andrew Harvey is part of a traveling exhibit featuring the Santa Clara River ecosystem. The aim of the exhibit is to inform residents about the diversity of the watershed and the threats to it. It opens today at the Fillmore Library.
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More from Local NewsSometimes, the Santa Clara River seems like a misnomer.
For much of the year, the largest river in Ventura County is a sandy wash devoid of water, with brown grass matching the dun-colored earth.
But the watershed is very much alive, with a menagerie of native wildlife and plants that create an important ecosystem within one of the largest wild rivers in Southern California.
Starting this weekend, an environmental group wants to show how unique the area is, complete with an exhibit of live birds, descriptive maps and a photo display of the river.
"The main purpose is to inform and educate folks in the Santa Clara River watershed about the diversity of the watershed and the threats to it," said Kristeen Penrod, conservation director for Science & Collaboration for Connected Wildlands.
The exhibit opens at 1 p.m. today at the Fillmore Library, 502 State St., and the opening will include a display of live hawks, bobcats and owls that are common along the river.
The photo and map exhibit continues through Nov. 6, and Penrod said she plans to hold it in other cities along the river next year.
Andrew Harvey, who took the photos in the display, said shooting the Santa Clara was challenging because it defies what normally is thought of as a beautiful riparian ecosystem. But that's also what makes it so unique and wonderful in its own right, he said.
"I have a great appreciation for it being one of the last free-flowing rivers in Southern California," he said. "Despite its first appearance, it's extremely important to preserve it."
He shot photos of the river when it was dry in the summer and raging in the winter.
He traveled to the headwaters and snapped images of the cottonwoods lining the burbling brook and then took photos of the development along the northern stretch of the river.
Put all the images together and you have a good picture of what makes the river so unique and so important to protect, he said.
Posted by Thinkbeforeyoupost on October 18, 2008 at 7:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Unless they moved the Fillmore library, it is not on State St.! It's on Central and I belive Third.
Posted by Reese on October 18, 2008 at 11:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
from: www.vencolibrary.org
Fillmore Library
502 Second Street
Fillmore, CA 93015
(805) 524-3355
HOURS
Mon. & Tue. 2 - 7
Wed. 10 - 5
Thu., Fri., Sat. 12 - 5
Sundays Closed
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