Hitch #8 - Alturas and McKabe Springs

After three and a half months, it was time for the Wildcorps Team to bid farewell to the North Coast of California and head to a drier locale. We moved to the northeast corner of the state to the Alturas BLM field office located in the desert. It has been quite a change in scenery going from the dense coastal forests of the North Coast to the wide open vistas of the desert, but it has been a welcome change. Our project location of McKabe springs was illegally used as a firewood gathering site about 5 years ago, despite it being located in a Wilderness Study Area. We are limbing all of the illegally felled Juniper trees and piling the limbs in piles to be burned by the local fire crew. With the remainder of the Juniper wood, we are bucking it up for future use as firewood by needy families in the area. When the work is completed, the site will be restored to an open grassy plain, the wood will be keeping families warm, and the local wildlife will be happy with the new grassy foraging.

To switch things up midway through the hitch, we took the opportunity to help out with the Alturas Balloon Festival. That same day, we also checked out the Alturas Migratory Bird Festival, Chili Cook-Off, Alturas Art Fest, and the Modoc County History Museum. All members were able to get a ride in a hot air balloon in appreciation for their participation as part of the balloon crew!

Here are the numbers:

5 acres restored