As the calendar page flips to July, we’ve completed our first official month of Trail Ambassador work in the Inyo & Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests! Our Trail Ambassadors (TAs) hit the ground running this year and have been out and about working hard. Here are just a few highlights of what they’ve been up to: Lily Emerson, our TA partnering with the Bridgeport Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, took two volunteers out to Eagle Creek in the Hoover Wilderness to monitor for invasive weeds in the area. Over their three-day/two-night trip, they found no weeds above 8,300 feet in…
Trail Ambassadors
Friends of the Inyo is excited to announce our newest Trail Ambassador Kayla Browne. After experiencing the beauty of the Eastern Sierra for the first time thru-hiking in 2017, Kayla knew she needed to make this area her home. Since moving to Lone Pine from her home state of Michigan she’s become involved with the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group and has taken part in Bureau of Land Management cleanup days picking up trash, disassembling fire rings, and painting climbing bolts in the Alabama Hills. Whenever she’s not hiking in the mountains, Kayla can be found mountain biking, trail running, rock…
Memorial Day is barely in the rearview mirror, and Friends of the Inyo’s merry band of Trail Ambassadors have already made a big impact on the Forest Service public lands of the Eastern Sierra. Partnering with Forest Service staff across two Forests (the Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe), and five Ranger Districts (from south to north, the Mt Whitney, White Mountain, Mammoth, Mono Basin, and Bridgeport), the Trail Ambassadors partner with the agency to bolster the on the ground presence through trail maintenance, visitor education and general information, leading volunteer groups and events, and sharing interpretive hikes and content. Working alongside FS…
Trail Ambassador Program Receives National Forest Foundation Grant In March, as spring arrived and the Worm full moon hung large in the sky, Friends of the Inyo received the exciting news that our National Forest Foundation (NFF) grant application to help fund our Trail Ambassador program was successful! This $47,000 grant is a huge boon to our ability to staff the Inyo, Humboldt-Toiyabe, and Sierra National Forest lands in the Eastern Sierra with five Trail Ambassadors this season. In addition to myself and Lindsay Butcher, we are going to be able to hire three additional staff members to provide…
Support the Trail Ambassadors in 2021 We are committed to making 2021 a brighter year for our public lands. And one thing you can count on in these uncertain times is Friends of the Inyo doing stewardship work on the public lands of the Eastern Sierra. If you make a donation, a board member will match the first $10,000 in donations to fund our Trail Ambassador Program. Help us reach our goal of raising $20,000 to help fund our work in 2021. Make a donation online. Read our open letter and learn about our plans for this upcoming Stewardship Season: Sincerely,…
Doris the Water Molecule, a free coloring book! In partnership between Friends of the Inyo, Mono County Libraries Makerspace, and the River Network, 2020 Trail Ambassador Julia Tawney created a “do-it-yourself” coloring storybook exploring the Owens River Headwaters. In response to the pandemic, Mono County Libraries Makerspace is offering free maker kits “to-go” at its 6 branches, with take-home art activities for all ages to learn new skills and engage with the natural world. Download the free coloring book by clicking this link.
Update: Winter recreation survey at Rock Creek For the past few months Friends of the Inyo has been collecting winter recreation data at Rock Creek Sno-Park. Data collection will conclude March 28th and we will provide a final report to Winter Wildlands Alliance and the Inyo National Forest. The data collected will help FOI make informed comments on the Inyo National Forest’s Over-Snow Vehicle (OSV) planning process which is set to kick off next year. If you would like to learn more about the OSV planning by the Inyo National Forest, you can find more information here. This season was…
Winter Snow-User Surveys Top Image: Low Snow at Rock Creek Lake on 01/16/21. Now that pavement is likely under several feet of snow! This winter, Friends of the Inyo is excited to reprise a program last undertaken in the winter of 2016-17: the Winter Snow-User Surveys! On weekends and National Holidays from January 16 to March 28, Lindsay Butcher and I have been and will be at Rock Creek Road getting an idea of how much use our winter trailheads see, while also acting as a resource for local information and any comments, queries, or concerns the public may have….
Friends of the Inyo was onsite to lend trash bags and tools for a socially distanced volunteer clean up day organized by the Bishop Area Climbers Coalition. Click here to see beautiful pictures by Gayla Wolf featured in The Sheet on November 21st. Thank you again to the Bishop Area Climbers Coalition for inviting us to take part in their creative and fun clean up event.
Resource List: Celebrating the Owens River Headwaters Presentation Owens River Headwaters + Wild and Scenic River Info: ORH National Wild and Scenic Page https://www.rivers.gov/rivers/owens.php Mammoth to June Ecosystem Management Plan, 1996 https://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-43/VOL_II/VII_C50.PDF Forest Service Owens River Headwaters Planning, 2020 https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57325 Summary of Initial Wilderness Proposal, 2009 https://friendsoftheinyo.org/book/owens-river-headwaters-proposed-wilderness-addition/ The River Network https://www.rivernetwork.org/about-us/ More info on LADWP and Owens River: Podcast on the Owens River and LADWP: Series of Stakeholder Interviews https://thereitistakeit.org/ Info on First People in the Owens River Headwaters: Northern Paiute Language Project http://paiute.ucsc.edu/#three Bishop Paiute Tribe http://www.bishoppaiutetribe.com/ The Archaeology of CA-MNO-2122: A Study of Pre-Contact and Post-Contact…