Nestled west of Nordhoff Ridge in Ventura County, the Wheeler Gorge Campground on Los Padres National Forest’s Ojai Ranger District has long been a popular destination for fishing, camping and access to hiking trails. Two tributaries of the Ventura River—the North Fork Matilija Creek and Bear Creek—flow through the campground.  

Four stream crossings within the campground installed decades ago provide recreational access but fail to maintain habitat continuity for aquatic species. Major wildfires, flooding and debris flows, along with decades of use, have taken their toll on the old stream crossings. Light repairs to the infrastructure were no longer enough; instead, forest staff began developing a new solution to serve the needs of visitors and migrating species.  

Forest staff worked with fish and wildlife advocates and other partners to develop a solution. Beginning in the early 1990s, initial planning efforts explored options and projected costs but the price tag for stream restoration grew substantially over the intervening years. Similar forest projects to restore and enhance aquatic organism passage also required significant financial commitments.

In 2017, with help from partners and funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the forest had concept designs in hand and began project evaluation. It would take another seven years to find funding for the project.

In 2024, Los Padres National Forest formalized its partnership with Earth Island Institute/South Coast Habitat Restoration with a challenge cost share agreement for the implementation of the project. South Coast pursued grant opportunities that could be leveraged to meet this longstanding forest need, and implementation was within reach when they received contributions of $1.8 million from the Wildlife Conservation Board and $3.9 million from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Now, the forest was able to install new stream crossings to improve recreation access as well as to restore aquatic passages and improve migration.  

“The passion of our partners was instrumental in successfully implementing this undertaking,” said Los Padres fisheries biologist Dr. Kristie Klose. “We know that enhancing steelhead habitat and removing up- and downstream barriers contribute to healthy outcomes.”

The removal of the low-water crossings and installation of two free-span bridges have enhanced a total of 13.3 stream miles in the Ventura River watershed for the endangered southern California steelhead trout. Over three miles of excellent spawning and rearing habitat were made accessible on Bear and Cannon creeks and 10 miles on North Folk Matilija Creek—the latter is federally designated critical habitat for steelhead.

This effort at Wheeler Gorge Campground is the latest in sustained efforts to use strong partnerships to enhance steelhead habitat and remove barriers to aquatic species migration within the Ventura River watershed and its tributaries.