Blog

Nancy Helsley, for the dedication of the Cold Creek Valley Preserve, June 6th 1993. SEE:           See the largest, the smallest, the macro, the micro . . . .          …

By: Manny Gomez The true definition of hard work was introduced to me by my father who till this day has his own business in landscaping. As soon as I…

by MRT Board Member, Jo Powe When I first came to Los Angeles in 1983 I was a little skeptical about whether I would ever feel at home in such…

by Rachel Burnap I fell in love with the Santa Monica Mountains in 2008, when I first hiked in the Cold Creek Canyon Preserve with my husband. We would spend…

By Kate Eplboim Four months after the Woolsey Fire, community members and environmental organizations, like Mountains Restoration Trust (MRT), remain steadfast to revitalize the mountains. While wildfires have been a…

I went to UCLA because it was a reason to get away from the small, foothill town that I grew up in. Like many destinations that you flee to, it…

By Rebecca Kosugi In the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, one must find serenity through forming a relationship with their higher power. Admittedly when I first got sober this was just…

Just months ago, I clamored through thickets of willow and blackberry with the usual lack of grace when off-trail, but today I walk through the La Sierra Preserve with ease.…

How do you quantify the importance of a wilderness? By its size? Its mountains or rivers? Maybe instead a wilderness is as important as its impact on individuals. Some places,…

As the newest member of the MRT team, I have already learned a great deal – why there is an inverse relationship between Red Swamp Crayfish and the vulnerable California…

   “Jo was a champion for science, conservation and restoration. Each and every time we talked science she immediately understood why it was important and asked how she could support…

Wearing fishing waders out in the middle of Medea Creek in Oak Park has allotted me multiple encounters with the locals, and the one thing I’ve learned from all of…

Press Release Organization Release – 8/9/2018 10:00 AM ET Schlais Brings Community, Environmental Science and Operational Experience CALABASAS, Calif.– Mountains Restoration Trust (MRT) announced that D. Ezekiel Schlais has been…

  It is a beautiful summer morning in the Cold Creek Valley. It isn’t hot yet, but by noon the temperature will be in the 90’s. Today, the mission is…

June 26th 2018 After a busy planting season, the MRT veg crew are now focusing on site maintenance for our restoration sites and other protected lands.  Our current planting sites…

BRING BACK THE STREAMS! ONE STREAM AT A TIME… WHO IS MOUNTAINS RESTORATION TRUST? We are a non-profit organization who have dedicated ourselves as stewards of the Santa Monica Mountains.…

iNaturalist is the brainchild of Nate Agrin, Jessica Kline, and Ken-ichi Ueda. They originally came up with the idea for the website during their senior master’s project at UC Berkeley in…

The red tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is North America’s most common hawk, and can most certainly be found in the Santa Monica Mountains. They have pale bellies and dark back…

by Amy  Yuelapwan, Land Restoration Tech **The beetle shown in the photo above is a full sized adult, with a US penny shown for scale. The Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer…

This week, our staffers found a Green Lynx Spider (peucetia viridans) perched on a lily near our office in Headwaters Corner. She appears to have made her home here, as…