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…
Stewardship
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….
DEATH VALLEY, CA –Recently, volunteers from the Friends of the Inyo and National Park Service staff spent a weekend attempting to remove tire tracks from the Racetrack playa in Death Valley National Park. Nineteen people used garden tools and 750 gallons of water to attempt to restore 512 feet of tire tracks. The tire tracks were very visible and this effort helps to eliminate the tire track depressions and bring back the natural polygon shapes on the playa. By the conclusion of the project, the geometric patterns could be seen beginning to reform. “The Racetrack is a unique geologic oddity found within Death Valley,” stated Superintendent Mike…
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….
Summer Stewardship Season Goes Out with a Bang on National Public Lands Day Mother nature sent our stewardship events calendar out in style with moody skies and a clear indication that summer was indeed over. Saturday, September 28th was National Public Lands Day, and we celebrated with two stewardship events. We partnered with the Bodie Hills Conservation Partnership and the Bureau of Land Management to rehabilitate some fencing to let-down fencing that is friendlier to sage grouse, deer, and pronghorn antelope. Further south on the 395, our Stewardship Crew partnered with the Inyo National Forest, the Eastern Sierra 4WD Club,…
It is with great pleasure that we present our calendar for the Summer 2019 Season of Volunteer Stewardship Events: 6/22 – 10th Annual June Lake Trails Day 6/29 – Lower Rock Creek Work Day w/ SEMBA 7/13 – Bridgeport Trails Day 7/20 – Rock Creek Lakes Clean-Up 8/7-11 – Sierra National Forest Wilderness Project ***Space Limited, RSVP Required*** 8/10 & 11 – Owens River Water Trail Work Weekend 8/24 – Rock Creek Lakes Clean-Up 9/21 – Bodie Hills Stewardship Day 9/28 – National Public Lands Day w/ Eastern Sierra 4WD Club Look for more specific details on exact times and…
Whew, the month of March has been a doozy for us and our stewardship and education programs! We started off with SnowSchool with the Bishop Elementary School fifth-graders up at Cardinal Village in Aspendell. In partnership with the Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association, Winter Wildlands Alliance, the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center, and the Eastern Sierra Land Trust, we engaged 150 students over three days in snow science, creative activities, and fun games. A mere week later, we headed a bit lower to our high desert ecosystem in the Buttermilk Country, for a morning of Stewardship with the Flash Foxy Women’s Climbing…
This Spring, we have a trio of volunteer opportunities in our desert and high-desert ecosystems. Saturday, March 23, 2019 – Death Valley National Park Badwater Basin Effacement Volunteer Project – Our partners at Death Valley National Park are looking for enthusiastic volunteers for a day of restoring a playa in the Badwater Basin, treating OHV trespass. Space is limited to twelve people, so please RSVP to me at alex@friendsoftheinyo.org and I will send you the full details. Sunday, March 24, 2019 – Flash Foxy Women’s Climbing Festival Stewardship Day – Join us and partners as we send off the Women’s Climbing Festival…