Creek clean up benefits local wildlife

The next Las Virgenes Creek Work Day is Sat., Nov. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers will meet on Lost Hills Road in Agoura Hills, just north of Cold Spring Street, near the entrance to Steeplechase.

Volunteers have been helping out on Saturday mornings to transform the clogged-up creek into a riparian waterway.

Las Virgenes Creek provides refuge and safe passage for wildlife travel between the protected open spaces north of the 101 Freeway corridor and Malibu Creek State Park.

A healthy Las Virgenes creek will filter out pollutants as water moves down stream.

During the rainy season, a healthy stream absorbs excess water, providing natural flood control.

Nutrients from decaying leaves, fish and animals in the water are recycled and become food for downstream organisms.

Healthy streams, with native plants and trees growing on their banks, maintain the indigenous biological diversity of the fragile Mediterranean ecosystem.

For more information, call (818) 591-1701, ext. 205.