The Inyo National Forest is the second-most-visited National Forest in California. Yet most visitors pass through without ever having identified a plant, learned the name of a peak, or picked up a piece of trash. Friends of the Inyo’s Trail Ambassadors aim to change that.
After highly successful 2017 and 2018 seasons, the Trail Ambassador Program will continue to extend its reach, staffing more Trail Ambassadors in 2019 across the Eastern Sierra from Mount Whitney to Yosemite. Trail Ambassadors seek to ignite a passion for environmental stewardship, connecting visitors and local residents with public lands through education, interpretation, and hands-on restoration.
If you see our Trail Ambassadors on the trail, be sure to say hello!
Support the Trail Ambassador Program Today!
Updates from the world of the Trail Ambassadors
Though the cliché is the enemy of originality, they often develop because there are nuggets of truth in there. In this case, “Time flies when you’re having fun,” has proven to be the apt descriptor of our summer season of stewardship thus far. We kicked things off at the 10th Annual June Lake Trails Day, where 65 volunteers came out to take care of the Rush Creek & Parker Bench Trails, and clean up around Gull and June Lakes. What a great day! The next weekend, we partnered with the Sierra Eastside Mountain Bike Association (SEMBA) to brush the Lower…
Our Trail Ambassadors have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on their interpretive hikes for the season, and they’re ready for the world to see! We’re starting things out with a bang, with Robin leading not one, but TWO Botany Hikes in Rock Creek on the same day. He’ll be leading hikes at 9 AM & 1 PM, out of Rock Creek Lakes Resort (across the street from the Rock Creek Lake). The rest of the hike schedule will be as follows: Botany in Rock Creek with Robin – Saturdays 7/6 (9 AM & 1 PM), 7/20 (1…
It is with great pleasure that we present our calendar for the Summer 2019 Season of Volunteer Stewardship Events: 6/22 – 10th Annual June Lake Trails Day 6/29 – Lower Rock Creek Work Day w/ SEMBA 7/13 – Bridgeport Trails Day 7/20 – Rock Creek Lakes Clean-Up 8/7-11 – Sierra National Forest Wilderness Project ***Space Limited, RSVP Required*** 8/10 & 11 – Owens River Water Trail Work Weekend 8/24 – Rock Creek Lakes Clean-Up 9/21 – Bodie Hills Stewardship Day 9/28 – National Public Lands Day w/ Eastern Sierra 4WD Club Look for more specific details on exact times and…
What a year it’s been! 2018 saw our Stewardship program tally some impressive numbers: We put on over 20 different volunteer events, which allowed us to engage over 400 volunteers for a whopping 1,919 hours of volunteer work! Through those volunteer events, our Trail Ambassadors, and Stewardship Crews, we picked up over 2,000 pounds of trash from our public lands front and backcountries, monitored 518.5 miles of trails, and removed 105 logs from said trails. Numbers are great, but why tell you what we did when we can show you? Here are some photos highlighting Friends of the Inyo stewarding…
Below is the unabridged version of a conversation featured in the Fall 2018 Jeffrey Pine Journal. In late August, Communications & Outreach Manager Alex Ertaud sat down on the deck of the Rock Creek Lakes Resort with Amy King Miller and Steve Miller, managers and co-owners of the aforementioned establishment. We touched on how they came into the role, what the place means to them, and how they came to be great supporters of the Trail Ambassador Program. Alex Ertaud, Friends of the Inyo: Sitting here at the Rock Creek Lakes Resort, right, that’s the official name? Amy King Miller,…
Huge thanks to our 2018 Supporters:
Mary Bates Abbott, Aguabonita Flyfishers, Timm Alexander, Katherine Allen, William Apt, Ralph and Nasrin Barbee, Lindsay Barksdale, Marie Bartorona, Julian Birrell, Kurt Bomke, Michael Boone and Lisa Lilley, Lynn Boulton, Anne Bramhall, Carol Broberg, Eileen Burger, Joan Busby, Alison and Henry Collin, Kevin Corcoran, Naomi Cridebring, Tess Dahlgren, J Paul and Laurie David, Laura and Mark Deem, Diane Dickey, Bill Dunlap, Donald and April Durkee, Christophe Ertaud, Nancy and Claude Fiddler, Steve Filarsky and Barbara J Ward, Karen Fisher and Sam Roberts, Gayle Frickel, Linda Garberson, David German and Judy Rittenhouse, Don and Linda Goffinet, John and Ros Gorham, James and Donna Gottfried, Michael Graber, Joan Hamilton, John and Julie Helms, Laird Hendricks, Tom Hinck, Carolyn Honer, Linda and Delbert Hubbs, David Humes, June Lake Pines, Kathleen Kahn, Barbara Kalkis, Kevin and Ann Klinefelter, Gary and Karen Kvasnicka, Ron and Katharine Lang, Mark Langner and Lynn Inouye, Jacob Lustig, Ann and Keith Mangold, Viki Maxwell, Roberta McIntosh, George Mellon, John Moore, Donovan Otto, Michelle and Don Paolilli, Barb and Dennis Phillips, Leo and Delia Pisculli, Phil Pister, Katie Quinlan and Tim Tiernan, Robin Rickershauser, Renee Rivera, Marc Mankowski, Maggie Saffen, Suzanne and Sanford Scholton, Aaron Setran, Linda Shepler, John and Judi Skillman, Harrison Snider, Lawrence Stern, Peter Thiemann, Ann Tozier and Henry Blommer, Jean Tozier, Libby Vincent, Michael and Terri Wachtler, Stephen Walker, Edie and Erich Warkentine, Matthew Watson, Ben Wickham, Monda Wiseman, Carole Mall, and the following organizations:
