Friends of the Inyo’s 2020 Backcountry Ranger Intern for the US Forest Service Each year Friends of the Inyo funds an intern for the Sierra National Forest with a generous donation from Rick Kattelmann and Sally Gaines. We are proud of the work and perspectives gained by David Carpenter in 2020 through his participation in the program. Read more about David and his experience with the Sierra National Forest below: Reflections on 2 Months in the High Sierra I always was a man of the wilderness. I was born in Denver, Colorado, and grew up not far away in Golden,…
Stewardship
Effacing Vehicle Tracks in Death Valley National Park The varied desert environments of Death Valley are among the harshest on earth. Every climatological feature or event happens in extreme fashion. As such, every landscape, formed over millennia by these weathering forces, is delicate. when something disrupts it, it is unlikely that balance will naturally be restored for many moons. So when a vehicle drives off a designated road or route (a big no-no in the National Park), it leaves a scar that is going to be there a while and serves as an implicit invitation to others to join in…
September Stewardship Update & Highlights The dog days of summer are here, and our Trail Ambassadors are out and about doing a doggone good job! Whether it’s picking up trash, working with the Athenian School, or heading out on trips with our Forest Service partners, August has been one heck of a month for our Stewardship team. Here are some of the highlights of the month: Lindsay and I (Stewardship Director Alex Ertaud) got to head into French Canyon, just over Pine Creek Pass and the Sierra Crest to spend four days working alongside Tim Crosby and Michael Sax from…
What Can I Do? Join us in picking up trash at your favorite spots! Going on a day hike? Bring a grocery bag to fill. Going into the backcountry? Bring an extra ziplock for the trash you find. Want to be like our Trail Ambassador Lindsay? Bring heavy-duty garbage bags and fill them up! Join the Eastern Sierra Trash Eliminators on Facebook! The Sierra Trash Eliminators is a group dedicated to eliminating trash here in the Eastern Sierra. Friends of the Inyo proudly supports them, having donated a dozen trash grabbers and hundreds of trash bags. Join the group to…
August Stewardship Update & Highlights Holy smokes it’s already August! They say time flies when you’re having fun, and that certainly applies to our stewardship activities this summer. Along with Trail Ambassadors Lindsay Butcher and Julia Tawney, our trio has been out and about lopping overgrown trails, bucking logs off of trails, interacting with and educating the public, and packing out all trash we find on trail or at the trailheads. Some highlights include: I (Stewardship Director Alex Ertaud) just got back from two days of crosscutting downed logs with students from the Athenian School’s Athenian Wilderness Experience, a 26-day…
Additional Trail Ambassador for the Owens River Headwaters Wild & Scenic River Area Friends of the Inyo has received a grant to do some great work around the Owens River Headwaters Wild & Scenic River Area. Our grant entails doing restoration work to aid in ecosystem, riparian habitat, and stream quality, as well as sharing the area with a wider audience, particularly in the local schools. FOI has had an exciting hand in the history of this area, protecting it from development and promoting its designation as wilderness. Our Trail Ambassador, Julia Tawney, will be putting together a series of videos…
Summer Stewardship Shaping Up for 2020 Hello from the wide world of all things Stewardship! Things have been touch and go as of late, with the pandemic throwing our plans into uncertainty since the beginning of March. Our plans have changed seemingly every couple of weeks or so, but now we’ve entered a welcome state of solid ground for what we can expect our work to look like this summer with regards to our stewardship program. Below are some updates of what stewardship and programmatic offerings will be this summer: Thanks to grants from the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and…
In early March of 2020, Stewardship Director Alex Ertaud sat down with Adam Barnett, the Inyo National Forest’s Assistant Public Services Staff Officer. This conversation dives deep into the ins and outs of the two organization’s working relationship. It is always a pleasure to chat with Adam and I hope you enjoy! Alex Ertaud, Stewardship Director: I am here with Adam Barnett, of the Forest Service. Thank you for sitting down with me Adam. Just to start things off, when was the first time you came to the Eastern Sierra? And I guess in this case, the Inyo National Forest….
Introducing the Bishop Area Climbing Rangers This winter and spring, the Bishop Area Climbers Coalition, the Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association, and Friends of the Inyo are thrilled to introduce the two Climbing Rangers who will work on our public lands this coming climbing season. These positions were created in partnership with the local Bureau of Land Management and United States Forest Service offices and staffs, and these rangers will be able to do a great deal of tangible, valuable, and much needed work. They will be a presence on the ground in the climbing areas in and around Bishop, taking…
The last two times I volunteered for Friends of the Inyo on backcountry stewardship projects, I unearthed a strong sense of purpose and a deep connection with nature. This time, however, I felt myself making a connection with a rich past….