OJAI : Youth Group to Use Rose Valley Camp

A 2-year-old youth group from Ojai has been granted use of the U.S. Forest Service camp in Rose Valley in exchange for volunteer labor on forest trails and campgrounds, a Forest Service official said Monday.

A special use permit has been issued to CREW (Concerned Resource and Environmental Workers) to occupy the Rose Valley facility for five years, said Al Hess, a resource and lands officer for the Forest Service.

“We’re glad to have someone up there who can maintain the place,” Hess said. “We can’t afford to maintain it ourselves.”

The Rose Valley residential facility, built by the Navy nearly 50 years ago, has been vacant since the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department closed its camp for jail inmates more than a year ago.

Although the Forest Service showed the facility to a number of parties, most were turned off by the camp’s isolation and lack of telephones.

The permit will become active as soon as CREW obtains liability insurance, which could happen by next week, said Christopher Danch, a member of CREW’s board of directors.

“This program is going to result in a significant working relationship with the national forest service,” Danch said.

Current plans call for establishment of a native plant nursery at the camp, for use in the surrounding forest, and a program of building trails, interpretive signs, tables and facilities for the handicapped.

CREW has provided work experience for 200 youths from ages 14 to 21, who were paid for their work through donations and fees for services. The group has begun cleaning up the Rose Valley camp in anticipation of the permit’s final approval.

“We wanted to do something that involves youth in a positive way and builds self-esteem, but more than that, teaches an appreciation for the outdoors,” Danch said.

CREW can be reached at 646-5085.