Ventana Wildlife Society

Our goals include establishing a self-sustaining, free-flying population of California condors in coastal areas and to serve as a nationally recognized model of success, instilling a conservation ethic and inspire youth to take action, and becoming a national leader in endangered species research, recovery and management. For more details, our full strategic plan is found at http://www.ventanaws.org/organizationdocuments/.

In terms of condor recovery, the greatest threat is the presence of lead from spent lead ammunition found in the condor's food supply. Our strategies include providing a clean food source as well as providing non-lead ammunition to key stakeholders where it would make the most difference. For outdoor youth programs, our strategy is to replicate our successful model and expand geographically to serve up to 1,200 youth annually by taking groups on outdoor excursions to develop an appreciation for nature and to improve wellness through "nature prescriptions."

Ventana Wildlife Society has a broad network of collaborators, landowners and others that enable program activities in addition to owning two wildlife sanctuaries in central California and operating a small fleet of vehicles. Additionally, through a bequest, the organization was able to purchase an office building reducing management costs, improving working conditions with room to expand. Our team of staff and board are well positioned to take on tomorrow's ecosystem challenges.

Key accomplishments for Ventana Wildlife Society:
+ restored a breeding population of Bald Eagles to Monterey County
+ recognized by the County of Monterey, California State Assembly & United States Congress
+ established two local release sites for California Condors
+ 25 years of managing the wild California Condor population in central California
+ published numerous peer-reviewed research papers on California Condor, Bald Eagle, and other bird conservation topics
+ completed hundreds of biological contracts with federal, state, and local agencies, private organizations, and foundations.

Saved from extinction, the critically endangered California condor had been moving closer to self-sustainability. Down to an all-time low of just 22 birds in 1981 and GONE from the wild by 1987, with the help of Ventana Wildlife Society, the condor resisted the imminent threat of extinction. In 2019, we celebrated a population of 100 in central California. But, our progress toward species recovery plummeted last year when the Dolan Fire destroyed the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary. The devastating wildfire caused our previous impressive gains in the size of the flock to fall by 10%, as TWO nesting chicks and TEN free-flying condors tragically perished.

The tragedy continued with another 8% of the flock being lost to lead poisoning in 2021. The COVID-19 crisis negatively affected the condors by limiting nonlead ammunition outreach, plus supply chains have been interrupted and retailers are not keeping nonlead ammunition in stock due to low profit margins. This issue will continue to impact the recovery of the California condor. The poor market availability of nonlead ammunition is a direct cause of increasing lead poisonings and mortality—for mature condors and for nestlings whose parents bring food with lead fragments back to the nest to their chicks.

It is vital to our conservation approach to educate the next generation about wildlife conservation and encourage them to act as ecological stewards. Since 1992, we have provided summer camps, school year programs, presentations, and field trips, with over half of the programming free to youth from underserved, under-resourced areas of Monterey County. In our long-term partnerships that have developed over the years with other community-based organizations, we have an established level of trust and meeting locations within the neighborhoods where our participants live. Most recently, we have launched “Nature Prescriptions” and completed a pilot of the multi-generational program that brings entire families to natural places. This groundbreaking work improves the health outcomes for children of migrant farmworker families living with obesity and co-occurring health challenges.