CORPS COMES MARCHING IN : CONSERVATION CREW TOILS IN CONEJO HILLS.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

Whether cutting trails along the American River or laying turf at Lake Tahoe parks, the varied scenery is one of the perks Sergio Martinez enjoys as a member of the California Conservation Corps.

And the Northern California worker, who moved south recently and lives in Los Angeles, found something decidedly different about his work at the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden on Tuesday.

``I'm tripping out on all the trees they have, they have all these different names,'' Martinez said as he helped clear a hillside trail with a spectacular view of the Conejo Valley.

``I'm from L.A., and it's different for me with all these hills,'' he said. ``I'm used to the big city. I like this.''

The California Conservation Corps protects the state's natural resources in various ways, including trail building, fire fighting and park development. The program also provides important job training to the young people it employs.

Martinez was one of 14 corps members who spent Tuesday cutting new trails and clearing old ones, and mulching and restoring the Botanic Garden's hilltop desert garden.

Corps members have helped keep up the garden the past 10 years, said Carmen Oblinger, president of the Gregor Mendel Botanic Foundation, which oversees the garden.

The corps used to come several times a year, but state budget reductions have forced it to one annual visit in recent years, she said.

But the corps' help is crucial because it performs work that the local volunteers who normally keep up the garden simply cannot do.

``It's critical, because much of the work is heavy duty,'' Oblinger said. ``We rely on volunteers and a lot of our volunteers are not in good enough condition to do the kind of work that's needed.

``They can take on the heavy-duty work that we just can't handle on our own,'' she said of the corps.

Those same budget cuts also have forced the corps to take on more ``fee for service work,'' said Paul Magie, projects coordinator for the California Conservation Corps.

As a result, the corps has had to scale back the length of its visits to about one week from the three to four weeks it spent in town in prior years, he said.

The corps originally had been slated to start work Monday and finish today. But Monday's work was canceled and the group has been called to help fight a fire near San Luis Obispo and will return to finish its work in the garden in the near future, Magie said.

The Conejo Valley Botanic Garden gives corps members a change of pace from their usual routine. They enjoy being there, he said.

``They're learning about plants and plant life indigenous to the area,'' Magie said. ``It's a learning experience for the corps members. This gives the corps members a little more variety.''

And it helps that local Botanic Garden regulars frequently make them feel at home by bringing them cookies and other goodies, he said.

``It's kind of a fun week for the corps members,'' he said.

Member Michael Aliaga, with the corps only about 1-1/2 months, said he was enjoying working in the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden. It's been a good experience, he added.

``They're telling us about the trees,'' he said. ``It's been a new experience for me.''

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4 Photos

Photo: (1--Color only in Conejo edition) California Cons ervation Corps workers walk on a trail they cleared at Conejo Valley Botanic Garden.

(2--Color only in Conejo edition) Corps member Janet Chiodo carries away a bundle of brush that was cut along a trail at the Botanic Garden.

(3) Homes in Thousand Oaks serve as a backdrop for the Conservation Corps crew that worked at the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden.

(4--Conejo edition only) California Conservation Corps member Lee Buckmaster quenches his thirst with a drink from his canteen.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News