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,…
Trail Ambassadors
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…
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…
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…