Summer Stewardship Season Goes Out with a Bang on National Public Lands Day

Photo by Mike Johnston
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, Adventure Trails, and the Advocates for Access to Public Lands met at the Crestview Staging and SnowPlay area for a day of work. They picked up trash, delineated routes, and raked out trespass.

National Public Lands Day also marked the last day for our seasonal staff, and boy was it bittersweet. The Trail Ambassadors and Stewardship Crew exceeded expectations this year, doing great work, helping out the land management agencies, and being a friendly face to any and all public land users they met. Needless to say, they made me proud. Robin Hirsch, Tess Irving-Ruffing, Laura Kinney, Luke Kinney, Lauren Newey, Kimball Stewart, Julia Tawney, and Sam Worman were amazing assets to our organization, and their hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm was awe-inspiring. 

Our crews did some truly staggering work this year, from Lone Pine to Bridgeport, from Coyote to Papoose Flats. I could go on and on and wax poetic, but I think I’ll let the metrics speak for their work:

  • 3,230 visitor interactions
  • 159 logs removed from trail
  • 55 fire rings removed
  • 235 volunteers worked 777 hours on our public lands
  • 1,304 pounds of trash removed
  • 64 campsites cleaned, and 19 restored
  • 543.25 miles of trail monitored
  • 374.341 feet of trail maintained

These staggering stats could not have been done without the support and assistance from our land managers here in the Eastern Sierra. The staffs of the Inyo & Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests and Bureau of Land Management were a delight to work with, and I truly enjoyed my work this summer. I’m sad it bis over, but am now looking forward to things being a little quieter for our stewardship programs.

If this re-cap gave you FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), never fear;  we’re not done quite yet! November 3rd will mark our Fall Highball Stewardship Day. Meet us the Black Sheep Coffee Roasters at 8:30 AM for bagels and coffee, then we’ll head up to our popular climbing areas to spend a morining taking care of the lands we love. See ya there!