Year Completed: 2026

Cost: ~$6,000,000

Goals: Improve fish passage and safety for vehicles/public

Funders: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation Board, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Patagonia

Partners: Los Padres National Forest, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Patagonia, Waterways Consulting, Earth Systems, Streeter Group, Catalyst Environmental, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, ConTech/Big R Bridge, Tyman Construction, Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, California Conservation Corps, Echo Magic.

Project Overview

The goal of the project was to improve steelhead trout migration in the Ventura River watershed at the Wheeler Gorge campground within the Ojai Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest by removing four concrete creek crossings. Two crossings were located along North Fork Matilija Creek and two were located along Bear Creek. Two of the crossings were replaced with clear span vehicular bridges and the other two were restored to natural stream channel conditions. South Coast Habitat Restoration secured grant funding over many years to complete engineering designs, complete all environmental permitting, cultural resource compliance and NEPA, and hire general contractors to implement the project.
Construction at the project began in August of 2025 and was completed in December 2025. In addition to restoring access along the creek, the project aimed to restore riparian habitat at each of the four project sites. We contracted with the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy who: 1) collected seed from the campground, 2) grew over 1,000 plants at their nursery and 3) planted the plants at the project. Planting was done in collaboration with the California Conservation Corps crew from San Luis Obispo.