THOUSAND OAKS : Funds for Chumash Trail Recommended

Funding for a two-mile trail through Oakbrook Regional Park east of Thousand Oaks is all but assured after it won a state funding recommendation, an aide to County Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer said.

The Chumash Indian Heritage Trail, which will wind from the interpretive center at the park entrance to the re-created Chumash Village, won the grant funding endorsement Friday from the state Department of Parks and Recreation, said Doug Johnson, a Schaefer aide.

“That pretty much means we’ll get the money,” Johnson said.

The funds must be included in the state’s 1990-91 budget for the park trail to win the $82,000 grant.

Another $50,000 will come from the state Park Bond Act to complete the $132,000 trail.

The park, which is being developed by the county in cooperation with local Chumash groups, will have 485 acres of rolling hills for day use and overnight camping. Buried in a secret area of the park are Chumash remains that were uncovered from a Ventura flood channel and kept in a vault at UC Santa Barbara while a permanent place for them was located.

The park eventually will include a second five-mile trail that leads back into the woods for overnight camping. Guides will staff the park to explain the heritage of the Indians who lived throughout the Ventura County area.

Schaefer said the park and trail would provide “a vital link” to the past.

“We need to teach our kids that public lands and the Indian civilizations that inhabited them are important and that their heritage is worth preserving for future generations,” she said.