Hitch 1

Tuesday June 6 marked the first day of our first hitch in the Eastern Sierra. The next ten days would be spent at Manzanar National Historic Site under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. To celebrate the beginning of our summer field season, we were graciously welcomed by all of the agencies we will work this season at the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery. The following day we received our orientation specific to Manzanar and were guided around the site by former internee Sab Sasaki. We were also greeted on this day by all of the Manzanar staff that we would work with for the next 9 days including SCA Conservation Intern Jesse Shearer. On the afternoon of day two we began the work project that we would be destined to complete 8 days later. The project would be to remove both native and invasive vegetation from a strip of property between the historic fence and the entrance road to Manzanar. Over the years these plants have overgrown and blocked the visibility of the historic barbed wire fence. The majority of the plants removed were native salt brush and invasive Russian thistle. Also included in this project was the removal of a five wire fence having no historical value, running parallel to the road. On days 5, 6 and seven the X-Corps was joined by 4 more SCA Conservation Interns from Devil’s Postpile National Monument who are still snowed out of their work site. Throughout the entirety of the time spent at Manzanar the X-Corps was given numerous opportunities to experience the cultural and historical significance of this place. This included a visit to the historic reservoir, lunch by a creek known as a favorite picnic site by Manzanar internees, a tour of the historic orchard and visiting the Japanese gardens that have been unearthed over the years. We would like to extend an enormous thank you to all of the Manzanar staff that made us feel so welcomed during our hitch, to Jesse for being our honorary crew member, and to Sab Sasaki for sharing with us his Manzanar memories and knowledge.

Work Totals:
• 18 trailers full of brush @ 144 cubic feet / trailer
• 792.5 meters of fence removed
• 21,457 meters sq of brush removed