Wrapping up the 2023 Trail Ambassador Season: Intro by Lindsay Butcher, FOI Stewardship Director Here we are, yet again. Somehow we’ve made it to the end of another trail season, despite this year continuing to pose new and adventurous challenges throughout the passing summer months, which were particularly wet, with trails remaining inaccessible until mid-late July! Once trails were melted out, downed trees rendered them impassible. Mid season monsoons washed roads away. Luckily fires were of little consequence (knock on wood, fingers crossed, hold you breath…. don’t jinx it!) Through it all the Trail Ambassadors persevered. Here’s what the All-Star…
Volunteer Work Week
Read some exciting progress notes from our Trail Ambassadors, with an introduction and post-note from Stewardship Director Lindsay Butcher. It is hard to believe, but here we are- already halfway through the Trail Ambassador season! My how time zips by… Despite the multiple false starts of summer and the ongoing damage control from winter, our TAs have been up to some awesome work alongside our Forest Service partners. Here are some highlights from their last month of work. From Logan, TA on the Mt. Whitney Ranger District of the Inyo National Forest: My Favorite day this month- Overnight in the Eastern…
Read some exciting progress notes from our Trail Ambassadors, with an introduction and post-note from Stewardship Director Alex Ertaud. “We’re thick into the Dog Days of summer, hitting the midway point of our season, and the Trail Ambassadors (TAs) just keep on rolling! Alongside our Forest Service partners, our TAs have been up to some amazing work. But don’t take my word for it: Let’s hear it from the TAs themselves! Here are some highlights from their last month of work in north-to-south order depending on the Ranger District to which each of them is assigned.” From Bradley Olson, TA…
Friends of the Inyo’s Summer Stewardship Program is Off to a “HOT” Start! By Alex Ertaud, Stewardship Director (Middle-Right in photo) As the days grow longer and the last remaining bits of snow melt away, it can only mean one thing: Friends of the Inyo’s Summer Stewardship Season is upon us! Our Stewardship Team spent the month of May getting ready for the exciting summer season we have ahead of us. We’re thrilled to announce that we are able to staff each Ranger District of the National Forests of the Eastern Sierra with a dedicated Trail Ambassador (TA) this year….
By Lindsay Butcher, Lead Trail Ambassador Flowing southeast from White Mountain Peak, Cottonwood Creek is fed by numerous springs that pop up all the way into the Great Basin Desert. In 2009, as part of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act signed by President Barack Obama, Cottonwood Creek was designated as a protected Wild and Scenic River (WSR). Today, the creek’s comprehensive management plan is still under development; however, its WSR designation meant no more cattle grazing in the area. From August 6 through 9, Friends of the Inyo set out with a hard-working group of volunteers and Inyo National Forest…
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 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…
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,…
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….
I’m back to the comfort of home, and for better or worse, it is home. I know where everything goes as I unpack: a tent, a rainfly, a ground cloth, a sleeping bag, and two mattresses I carry just in case one pops. A tiny stove. Camp clothes. I unpack feeling sadness–the wilderness trip I’d looked forward to so much is over. I come from the “lowlands,” according to John Muir, and hence the question: how do I find myself on a wilderness project….