2018 was another productive year of hard work and fun with a dedicated group of volunteers. Working with the Forest Service, our volunteers completed 11 volunteer workdays with 92 total participants and 690 hours of time donated. In addition, CSERC staff contributed 415 hours planning the projects and working alongside our volunteers.
We kicked off the 2018 volunteer season in March with two long, hard days of tree planting. Over those two days, 23 volunteers and staff planted nearly 1,000 tree seedlings in a high severity burn area of the Rim Fire. The restoration work continued in April with trail maintenance at the Sugarpine Railroad Trail near Frasier Flat, where volunteers fixed drainage issues and installed signs along 2.5 miles of the trail.
Throughout the summer, volunteers worked to fence three meadows and to protect approximately 10 acres of meadow habitat from damage by cattle. In addition to protecting meadows, our volunteers blocked and restored illegal off-road vehicle routes by installing wooden bollards and signs, spreading straw to prevent erosion, and scattering debris to block trails at Bourland Mountain.
At Long Valley volunteers restored five campsites by moving and rebuilding campfire rings farther away from the stream and collecting and scattering seeds to re-vegetate over-used, bare soil areas. We wrapped up the volunteer field season working on off-road vehicle routes at Trout Creek and cleaning up campsites near the iconic Clavey River.
CSERC is grateful for the contribution of our volunteers. This magnitude of restoration work to help protect our local watersheds would not have been possible without volunteers rolling up their sleeves and pitching in for the environment. If you are not yet on our email list, and would like to be added to receive project notifications in 2019 please contact Liz Gregg at [email protected] or call (209) 586-7440.