Los Padres Forest Association

Forest Sustainability

By Katrina McDowell on Dec 9, 2022 in Giving

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees.

The Los Padres Forest Association (LPFA) works in partnership with the Forest Service and the local community to help the forest. Another goal is to enable residents to use Los Padres land enjoyably and sustainably.

Founded in 1979 in Goleta, Calif., the LPFA is known for its robust trail work efforts. LPFA’s mission is to care for the Los Padres Forest, ensuring it thrives and remains safe and open for all to use and enjoy.

“We spend over 300 days a year in the forest maintaining and building trails using a combination of volunteers and our professional LPFA Trail Crew,” shares Bryan Conant, Executive Director for LPFA.

Los Padres National Forest is the second largest federal forest in California. With elevations ranging from sea level to almost 9,000 feet with ten designated wilderness areas, it offers spectacular natural wildlife and scenery.

In addition to trail work, LPFA manages two visitor centers in the forest (Big Sur and Ojai), providing face-to-face information for visitors. LPFA also works closely with local Scouts groups and other individuals in joint efforts to help the forest. Some include repairing historic forest structures, installing and repairing signs, and more.

“In addition to our ‘boots on the ground’ work, we also invest much time helping the forest user by providing trail and forest updates through social media, our newsletters, and a website we manage called HikeLosPadres.com,” said Conant.

Los Padres Forest Association plans to work on getting its website revamped and updated this upcoming year. Funds from Yardi will be directly funding HikeLosPadres.com. In addition to being in the forest as usual.

“The money is important, of course, but it’s truly wonderful knowing that a company such as Yardi supports the LPFA and our mission,” shared Conant. “We’re looking forward to our website revamp and could not make it happen without the support of Yardi and their employees.”

Red Reef Trail

The popular Red Reef Trail within the Sespe Wilderness and connects the Topatopa Mountains with the Sespe River Trail. It was frequented by backpackers and equestrians but had become highly overgrown over the past decade due to a lack of maintenance. The trail had gotten so bad that hikers couldn’t get through the path without crawling through long tunnels of debris and brush. By 2020, the trial was nearly non-usable, and LPFA had regular complaints about the loss of trail.

In late 2021, LPFA secured funding to restore the beloved trail.

“Over 14 months, we invested over 2,500 hours in the restoration of the Red Reef Trail, and it is now open, in great shape, and is used frequently by hikers, trail runners, and backpackers,” said Conant. “It was not easy but gratifying having the opportunity to bring back one of the more spectacular wilderness trails in the Los Padres Forest.”

Volunteer Opportunities

The Los Padres Forest is a magic piece of the California Coastal Mountain connecting Los Angeles with Monterey Bay. There are many great spots for all user groups to explore and recreate within the Los Padres. Whether you like a mountain bike, trail run, hiking, backpacking, or just listening to the birds, the Los Padres have something for everyone.

Yardi Santa Barbara team members have been past participants in local trail work projects. Keep an eye out for future opportunities to volunteer on trail work efforts.

Find future non-profit profiles at https://www.yardi.com/blog/category/giving.