Friends of the Inyo Listserv
Get updates from Friends of the Inyo through our E-newsletter, The Juniper, Action Alerts, Event Alerts, and more!
UPDATES ON THE BLOG
What a blissful five days of restoring our treasured alpine landscape with the Sierra National Forest and funding from the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance! Stay tuned for stories from the trip. For now, enjoy these incredible photos by volunteer Ken Miller. Thanks to our stalwart volunteers, to the Sierra National Forest staff who helped lead the trip, and to a generous grant from the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance that made this project possible. If you’d like to join next year’s wilderness volunteer work week, email info@friendsoftheinyo.org.
A Better Family Vacation! Starring Trail Ambassadors at Rock Creek Julia Runcie and the Trail Ambassadors rescued us from our fourth of July doldrums. (They can save your family vacation too!) Friends of the Inyo leads family friendly hikes and volunteer events bringing lucky folks together with nature. This last weekend included two hikes ripe with fun, sun, and adventure (for free!) Our family planned to bounce from car rides, the Mammoth Amusement Park, sugar highs, boredom, fights, etc… Our weekend trip with Friends of the Inyo (A Better Way) My dad and I enjoyed getting into the John Muir…
Desert Lands Focus of Washington Visit Last month, the Conservation Lands Foundation sent a coalition of public lands groups to Washington DC. I was fortunate to join, and meet with our congressional offices about public lands. Friends of the Inyo has a long history working to protect the California desert. With recent administrative attacks it was a perfect time to meet with congressional staff and touch on current threats and opportunities. From hearing rooms to hallways to cafeterias, our meetings took place just about everywhere. Our packed three-day agenda consisted of a visit to the Senate building to meet Feinstein…
On the last day in July, Friends of the Inyo’s Stewardship Crew and Trail Ambassadors headed out to Piute Pass, where a recent landslide had covered sections of the trail with debris. The overcast weather, while pleasant for working conditions, caused some trepidation among the crew as to what the rest of the day would look like. Nevertheless, there was work to be done, so we set about leveling the trail tread and moving rocks to prepare for building steps and check dams. After breaking for lunch, we began working out a plan of action for moving an exceptionally large…
Thanks to YOU, we reached our fundraising goal this spring and were able to fully staff our 2018 Trail Ambassador Program with four incredibly talented individuals: David, Melissa, Lauren, and Robin. Their beat extends from Cottonwood Pass to Lundy Canyon, and since June 12 they’ve been hard at work maintaining trails throughout the Inyo National Forest. The Trail Ambassadors also lead regular service projects for volunteers and teach interpretive programs on topics ranging from alpine lake ecology to mushroom ID. We’re blown away by everything the Trail Ambassadors have accomplished so far this summer: 1202 visitor contacts 736 hours of volunteer time…
Major storms in July devastated Eastern Sierra roads and trails. A 40-foot-high mudslide across 168 West stranded hikers in the Sabrina Basin, and severe washouts made the Pine Creek Pass and Piute Pass Trails nearly impassable. Another mudslide closed the Lundy Canyon Road and destroyed a portion of the trail reroute our Stewardship Crew spent three weeks building in June. Luckily, Friends of the Inyo’s Trail Ambassadors are poised to address exactly this type of emergency. With extensive experience, flexible schedules, and great attitudes, they can act as first responders for trail crises throughout the region. On short notice, we…