Exploration

afterrockcreek

Help Friends of the Inyo Restore the Rock Creek Boardwalk!

We have a special request for our Friends: We need YOUR help to restore the Rock Creek boardwalk!  We are restoring a section of boardwalk on the Upper Rock Creek Trail in the Inyo National Forest and we need to raise $15,000 to tackle the remaining sections of the Upper Rock Creek Trail that were damaged and left in a dangerous condition by runoff in recent years. In August 2024, Friends of the Inyo finished a new section of boardwalk on the Upper Rock Creek Lake trail. It took 13 people ALL day on August 10th to dismantle the old…

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Trail Ambassador Stewardship Round Up: August 2024

A summary of the Trail Ambassador’s season thus far (time is flying!): Intro by Stewardship Director, Lindsay Butcher I said it before, and I’ll say it again: This season has zipped past, blink and you’ll miss it! The TAs are still out on trails clearing downed trees, collecting water quality data, educating visitors on LNT, picking up after folks who leave trash behind 🙁 and leading the last of thier interpretive hikes in September. Most of our Volunteer events have already happened: so far we’ve- installed a new section of the Rock Creek Boardwalk, deconstruted obsolete grazing fencing in the…

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Trail Ambassador Stewardship Round Up: July 2024

A summary of the Trail Ambassador season thus far: Intro by Stewardship Director, Lindsay Butcher How are we already almost to August?! This season has whipped past, blink and you’ll miss it. The TAs have been out on trails since mid June getting the good work done and we have a stellar crew this year spanning from Lone Pine to Bridgeport. They have already hosted a handfull of volunteer events but if you want to get out and get your hands dirty alongside our TAs we have ample volunteer events coming down the pike: Golden Trout Backcountry Work Week, Rock…

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Listen to FOI’s Desert Lands Organizer’s Interview on KMMT about Our Upcoming Dark Desert Skies Campout Coming Up May 17-19!

Listen to Friends of the Inyo’s Jaime Lopez Wolters’ May 10 interview with KMMT Arts, Culture & Entertainment (ACE) Show Host John DeMaria about our upcoming Dark Desert Skies Outing at Conglomerate Mesa this weekend, May 17-19. Get details and sign up to reserve your spot beneath the vastness of the heavens before they are all taken–we limit participation in the spirit of land protection. Learn all about the trip, and get information about why protecting Conglomerate Mesa from mining threats is of the utmost importance, by listening to the interview, then go to the Events tab at FriendsoftheInyo.org to…

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Ah, the Solitude of Wilderness! Help Us Monitor It: Call it Citizen Science with a Meditative Twist!

Can you hear the solitude? Help us monitor it: It’s citizen science with a meditative twist! You enjoy your moments alone in the Eastern Sierra, right? So do many others. Millions of others, actually. Every year. Well, the U.S. Forest Service wants to make sure everyone visiting our wilderness areas has opportunities for solitude. It all begins with research, and Friends of the Inyo is assisting. And for that, we need YOU! Help Friends of the Inyo conduct visitor data collection for the Forest Service in various designated Wildernesses on the Inyo National Forest.  What you will be doing: Hiking…

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Friends of the Inyo’s Pine Nuts Annual Impact Report for 2022 is hot off the press!

Pine nuts, a high-energy food, helped sustain Native peoples of the Eastern Sierra through the winter. Friends of the Inyo’s annual impact report, which we usually release at mid-year to celebrate the previous year’s accomplishments, is symbolically named thus to acknowledge the support of our donors, funders, and volunteers, whose generosity sustains our work of protecting and caring for the land and water of the Eastern Sierra.

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A Burning Connection: Experiencing Personal Growth at the 2023 Burners Without Borders Summit

By Joseph Miller, Indigenous Community Relations Coordinator Introduction Burners Without Borders is a volunteer organization devoted to providing innovative disaster relief solutions, and supporting underserved communities by participating in service projects that promote resiliency. Since its inception, Burners Without Borders has grown to a worldwide organization and has become a forerunner in creative solutions to bring about positive community change. The 2023 Burners Without Borders Summit was held on May 19th through May 21st on the Burning Man Project owned Fly Ranch, located on the Hualapai Flat near Gerlach, NV. This is what I witnessed and felt as a summit…

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Listen to FOI’s Desert Lands Organizer, Jaime Lopez Wolters, talk to KMMT’s John DeMaria about our upcoming Dark Desert Skies Campout May 19-21!

If you have not yet made up your mind about joining Friends of the Inyo for our FREE Spring Dark Desert Skies Campout at Conglomerate Mesa this coming weekend, May 19-21, perhaps listening to our Desert Lands Organizer, Jaime Lopez Wolters, talk about the wonders that await will entice you. Listen to his guest appearance on KMMT FM Radio’s Arts, Culture & Entertainment (ACE) Show last Friday, May 12, get to know him a little better, and learn what you will be missing if you don’t join us for what promises to be a wonderful experience under the stars!

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Friends of the Inyo Board Secretary Ellen Wehr Talks Water on Golden State Naturalist Podcast

Ellen Wehr is General Counsel for the Grassland Water District in Merced County. She has practiced water and land use law in Sacramento since 2007, specializing in Central Valley Project water issues.  Besides serving as Secretary on Friends of the Inyo’s Board of Directors, she also serves on the boards of Ducks Unlimited and Los Vaqueros Reservoir Joint Powers Authority. Listen to her talk to Golden State Naturalist Podcast Host Michelle Fullner about the geology, history and hydrology of California’s Central Valley. It’s a fascinating conversation!

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A Recap of our Dark Desert Skies Campout (May 20-22)

For me, Friends of the Inyo’s Dark Desert Skies Campout (May 20-22) was just as much about all we can see under Daytime Desert Skies! By Kayla Browne, Desert Lands Organizer  Friends of the Inyo had a wonderful group of friends come out to learn more about dark skies and the beauty of Conglomerate Mesa and Centennial Flat over our three-day Dark Desert Skies Campout event that began with an educational evening at the Museum of Western Film History in Lone Pine. On Friday evening, May 20, we premiered “Island in the Sky,” a short film produced by Patagonia about…