Wildcorps

Mark A. Conley
Wilderness/NLCS Program Manager
BLM - California State Office
2800 Cottage Way
Sacramento, CA 95825
916 978-4641 (work)
916 978-4657 (fax)

Hitch 12:
Hitch Leader: David Nestor

Piedras Blanca’s, The final frontier. Well, the final frontier for the SCA 2010 Wild Corps. I can think of no better place to finish six months than this calm and beautiful light house. For the past two weeks we have been staying in bunk houses provided by the BLM on the Piedras Blanca’s point. This is easily one of the most incredible places we have stayed. In the mornings we stretch in the light rising over the mountains to our east. Working all day in the pacific sun and watching Seals, Sea Otters, Dolphins, and many other amazing sea creatures that move all around the light house. In the evenings we have been treated to some of the most spectacular sun sets you can find.
The Crew Worked on invasive plant removal and restoring a site where buildings once stood and are now being brought back to their natural beauty. The work and days seemed to slip by and now our time as a crew is almost over. This is our last hitch and it is the end of this Wild Corps’s six months together. We finished with gusto removing 82,700 square feet of invasive plants and prepping 16,587 square feet of ground for seeding. On the last day we slowly walked across the area we had worked so hard on and spread native seeds that will start growing in a matter of weeks.
We were also lucky enough to spend time with some people that make our work possible. On our last few days we where visited by Chris Sparks the Trail Corps Program Manager, who works very hard to make programs like this possible. With him came Mark Conley who is the BLM’s California Wilderness/NCLS Program manager. Mark is also responsible for making a trail crews and opportunities like the Wild Corps possible. It was a great opportunity for us to all get together and talk face to face about the season, program, and our experiences.
From Piedras Blanca’s the Wild Corps will be dispersing. Megan will be taking the truck and trailer back to Boise to do all the work that comes after our field time . Emily is flying home to Connecticut to be taken on a mystery vacation by her mother. Leah is headed home to Marietta Ohio for a short time before it’s off to school again to finish her degree. Erik will be slowly winding his way to Texas and eventually moving to New York. Chris is flying back to upstate New York with plenty of snowboarding and travel in the immediate future. David plans on traveling for a few weeks before landing back in Michigan.
The past six months have been some of the most amazing. We met up in Seattle as total strangers. From there we trained in the rain and mud, sat for hours in silence around camp fires, roamed the streets of major cities, completed a lot of very hard work, and ate a lot of food both good and bad. The best part is that we did it all together and built a community that allowed us all to learn and grow. Thank you SCA. Thank you BLM. Thank you Wild Corps 2010.

Hitch Leader: Erik Schmahl

Hitch #10 was the Wild Corps second and final hitch working in northwest Nevada’s Wilderness Study Areas with the Surprise Valley BLM office. This hitch had a dynamic schedule and the crew completed a variety of tasks and was fortunate to work with some new faces from the agency. Overall, the work was satisfying and the multitude of projects helped break up the sometimes monotonous nature of desert restoration.

Day 1
We met with our BLM contact, Kathryn Dyer, to discuss the hitch and formulate a schedule. As hitch leader, I allocated duties and oversaw the organization of materials we would need to bring into the field. Emily and Chris worked on a menu for the ten day hitch and packed the necessary food and produce. Dave and Leah organized the tools we would need to complete our projects and made sure that all of our base camp group gear was in order. Once all the food, gear, and personal gear was loaded into the rigs we made the drive north to Wall Canyon Wilderness Study Area (WSA). Kathryn gave the crew an educational lecture on the Aspen ecosystems that are found in and around Wall Canyon, and we proceeded to set up our base camp in the thick of an aspen grove.

Day 2
We set off early for a day of road closures and desert restoration. We restored site #6; installed 1 carsonite sign, de-compacted and vertical mulched 160 feet of illegal road. We also restored site #8; installed 1 carsonite sign, de-compacted and vertical mulched 203 feet of illegal road. We spent the remainder of the afternoon scouting illegal routes that were shown on our map, but fortunately the passage of time since the map had been created was enough to restore the roads naturally, for we found no sight of them.

Days 3 and 4
We met up with the Seeds of Success Intern, Chris, and headed to a northern section of Wall Canyon WSA to check on some seed and learn a little bit more about the botany of the area. We then split the crew in two; half of us went with Chris to collect geographical data on some of the unmapped fence lines using a Trimble GPS unit, while the other half of the crew manually disassembled and removed an unmaintained barbed wire fence on a recently acquired BLM parcel. On day 4 we switched tasks and mapped more fences and removed another unmaintained barbed wire holding pen.

Day 5
We packed up base camp in the morning in preparation to move to the southern end of Wall Canyon WSA. Along the way south we worked on more road closure projects. We restored site #9; installed 1 carsonite sign, de-compacted and vertical mulched 40 feet of illegal road. We restored site #6; installed 1 carsonite sign, de-compacted and vertical mulched 600 feet of illegal road. We set up base camp in the evening at a site near a creek.

Day 6
We packed up base camp and then closed three road stems measuring 20ft each (sites #2, #3, and #4) using vertical and horizontal mulch as well as “iceberged” rocks to prevent OHV traffic. In the afternoon we drove back to Cedarville, Ca and spent the night in the BLM fire barracks so that we could meet up with Kathryn early in the morning.

Day 7
In the morning we left the BLM office with Kathryn and the BLM Surprise wildlife specialist, Eli Flores, and headed to Massacre WSA. We spent the day with Kathryn and Eli learning about riparian ecosystems in the Great Basin. They walked us through a part of their management process known as Riparian Functional Analysis, were the agency assesses the vitality and sustainability of its riparian areas labeling them as “functional” or “at risk”. These RFA’s help the agency better manage these riparian areas. This educational day was productive and the crew learned about not only the ecosystems in which we work, but also how the agency works in these areas. Later we split up with Kathryn and Eli and made our way towards Bitner Ranch to set up base camp.

Day 8
After a cold night (my water bottle was frozen solid in my tent when I woke up), we headed out for another day of road restorations. We restored site #4; installed 1 carsonite sign, de-compacted and vertical mulched 283 feet of illegal road. The terrain and spacing between sites made for a day spent mostly in the trucks. After discovering that the construction of an enormous pipeline outside the WSA had blocked the majority of our access roads, we restored site #2 (the only site we could gain access to); installed 1 carsonite sign, de-compacted and vertical mulched 240 feet of illegal road. We headed back to base camp and prepared for another cold night (potentially our last night in the field for the season).

Day 9
We packed up base camp and drove back to Cedarville in order to meet up with Kathryn and Bob Wick from the state office. Bob has been with the BLM for quite a while and is very knowledgeable in all facets of the agency, as well as being the primary photographer featured in most of the BLM’s posters and postcards. Bob and Kathryn gave us a lecture on wilderness and the BLM’s stance as a management agency. We discussed the politics of wilderness as well as the history of the agency. It was a great opportunity to pick their brains on any subject regarding the agency with which we had been working for the last five months. Later that evening we had a cookout at Kathryn’s house and had an opportunity to socialize with our BLM contacts outside of work, it was a very nice gesture and everyone ate themselves sick - a nice ending to a very informative and fun day.

Day 10
We woke up early and went through the usual post-hitch routine. We cleaned and performed preventative maintenance on the tools and group gear, as well as inventoried our remaining food and made a shopping list for next hitch. As project leader, I completed the post-hitch summary and service log as well as the post hitch report. We also washed and detailed the BLM rigs which we had dirtied over the course of the last ten days of off-road driving. Crew members logged their hours and organized their personal gear before calling it quits for the day, for the hitch, and for Surprise Valley.

Hitch Leader: Emily Gelanto

Hitch 8: Inyo Mountains, Bishop, CA
Day 1: Today was the first day of our second hitch in Bishop. We got up early, packed up our camp and trailer at Horton Campground, and set off to do some food shopping and other preparatory errands in town. We then met up with Scott Justham, our BLM contact, packed up the rigs, and began our 3 hour drive to the Inyo Mountains where we’d be camping. The roads up to our campsite are pretty rough. One point of the journey is called “The Gauntlet,” which appropriately conveys how ridiculous this road is. We made it up safetly, set up base camp, and got to know Dave Kirk, a Mt. Whitney ranger/local famous artist, that would be working with us for the next few days.
Day 2: We started the day by working on a site that amounts nearly half a mile! We did some vertical mulching and decompaction of soil to erase the traces of an old road. We were having lunch at the old, abandoned Burgess Mine when we saw a NAVY rescue helicopter drop something in the distance, and then proceed to circle us in the air! So we spent the greater part of an afternoon searching for what the helicopter dropped, while also exploring the N.Y. Butte trail. After we searched to no avail, we continued working and finished off the site for the day!
Day 3: We finished 6 restoration sites today, and after such great work we went back to our campsite for some native Mormon Tea, which we picked ourselves.
Day 4: We worked through 8 more sites today, and unfortunately had to say goodbye to Dave Kirk. However, Scott Justham came to help us out for the next few days and brought us 2 dozen donuts, which were gone in about 5 minutes.
Day 5: Since we were working so outstandingly, Scott took us on a hike through the N.Y. Butte trail. We signed the register (representing SCA!) and then continued to hike around the area. We spontaneously decided to hike an interesting peak we saw in the distance which turned out to be called Survivor Peak. The last person to sign the register signed it 5 years ago! The hike was amazing and rewarding and we got to see a lot more of the Inyo Mountains!
Day 6: We moved 2 signs around our campsite to better convey the wilderness boundary, and then finished a site that ended up being over 2000 feet long!
Day 7: We finished 2 sites today, and also got the chance to meet up with Scott again, as well as Bernadette, the Bishop BLM Manager. Again, they brought us 2 dozen donuts which were quickly demolished leaving us all not wanting donuts for a day or so. Bernadette wanted our feedback, which we greatly appreciated, and we tossed around some great ideas for the future of the program.
Day 8: We drove up to the historic Salt Tram Transfer Station and did some clean up work around there. Then Scott met up with us and we drove back to our campsite to do some more wilderness boundary work.
Day 9: We got up early, packed up our belongings, tools and group gear and started the drive out. We did some work along the way, finishing up all the sites we had been working so hard on these past 2 hitches. We then visited the Lone Pine Film Museum, and the Manzanaar Internment Camp Museum so we could learn more about the area we’ve been working in all month. Lastly, we came back to the BLM office for some much needed showers.

Hitch 6, Lack’s Creek Field Write-Up
Leah Miracle
8/16-8/25

The early morning ruckus of 4 break days in Samoa Dunes—ATVs revving, boats and barges humming, a camper-neighbor’s chatter and other evidence of human occupation—is an old artifact now as we sit on our stoops around our Tupperware table. At 8:30pm the silence at our Lack’s Creek camp is so pristine that the cracks underfoot from an afternoon jaunt up the hill to the latrine make us skittish: “bear? Mountain lion? I hope it’s an elk!” By now, after riding a full 10 days here from last hitch, we’re not so ‘green’ toward frontcountry living but cherish this…comparatively ritzy (food smorgasbord, long-hiking famine!) existence. Rolling in from Arcata on Mon 8/16 we found our campsite hotter, emptier, and well-colonized with mosquitoes before we re-tarped our ‘mascot’ tan oak and made our cozy kitchen. Here we’d perfect our rummy and pitch finesse over evening tea, zapped from hard work, before waking up at 7am to a new tent arrangement. This Monday we awoke on Humboldt Bay, did our routine Hitch Day 1 prep—Target for officework and budgeting, food shopping, and parking lots for tidying the trailer—and drove 2hrs to our campsite before making ‘home’ late in the afternoon and discussing the next 9 days.
Day 2, 8/17, Bruce Cann and Ranger Casey met us here at 10am; as a work-task preview they escorted us around the Western slope of Lack’s Creek, stopping at 4 focus locations. At each one was a trickle of water embedded in a hillside…an ‘untamed spring’. An afternoon with Bruce and Casey, and the novelty of 3-4 new springs into our repertoire, was a nice breather after a full last hitch of treading a multi-use trail. After 3 days of springwork we’d continue with this trail until the last day, but many of us shared enthusiasm for these special projects: 2 springs, 1 clearing, 3 site ‘personalities’.
Day 3, 8/18, we began with Priority 1, a spring site around a pond we lovingly called Meditation Spring (or Bee Spring from a ‘landmine’ bee colony under a log); here we would both install a spring and add tread). The spring site itself was obscured behind the pond and was inaccessible, so we flagged a blueprint footpath (human, not horse) from the dirt road, around the pond, through a dense thicket, and to the spring site. For our first 2hrs all 6 of us assisted in sawing, weed-wrenching obstructions, and mattocking out the stumps on the heavily-sloped land. A mammoth rotting log lay in our way and, with Casey’s help, managed to dislodge it after 2hrs and heave it out of the path. Casey came armed with a chainsaw, and this helped with clearing some big debris further toward the spring. After lunch we began benching from the road inward, stopping at the perilous bee nest under the big log…Casey, ever the trooper, escaped with only one sting! We agreed to leave a 40ft section incomplete, waiting until Sunday when Casey could exterminate the hive. For the remaining 2hrs 4 of us began preparing and clearing mud and rock for the spring itself; after some struggling with the finicky water source we managed to install and secure the tub.
Day 4, 8/19, began with a foray into 100acre Field, a bubble of cell service that enabled us to stretch and conduct some hitchleader business. At 10am we began Priority 2, not really a spring so much as a streamside clearing we would flatten, refine, and enable horses to enter, drink from the stream pools, and turn around. This occupied us for 3hrs, leaving a smooth and comfortable…horse ‘bar’. Ending this site with time to spare we finally drove to Priority 3, a dual spring installation and horse-to-pond ramp, and spent the last hour carving the slope (3people) and preparing the spring (3people).
Day 5, 8/20, we battened our hatches and dove into what felt like the most scorching day in Lack’s Creek. Today’s project may take us a few hours, all day, or even spill into the next…there was no telling but to start. For 5hrs 3 of us worked on the roughly 10’ by 6’ (60ft squared) slope toward the pond, creating a slope that would please a horse with (maybe) a rider. Meanwhile, 3 of us carved into the water source about 100ft from the pond, hunted for anchor and support rocks, placed the oval tub, and finally sealed it in with mud-crete. It’s tedious work ‘capturing’ water…victoriously we finished this project today and looked forward to resuming our treadwork tomorrow.
En route to our trail on Day 6, 8/21, an unaggressive rattlesnake lay under a tree by our path, our first sighting in Lack’s Creek, second overall! Avoiding a strike, we resumed our treadwork on a lower section of the multi-use trail and, after a good, solid 8hrs of tread including a 10ft rock retaining wall, we concluded with 200ft of smooth tread. It was pleasingly cool after yesterday, ending a crisp evening…if only it weren’t fire season and campfires were permitted…
Day 7, 8/22, began with a brisk, mosquito-free breakfast, drive back to Priority 1 Spring, and a good stretch at the site. We approached bee territory not like daredevils but with the caution of workers intending to finish the day’s work uninjured. However, the trail necessitated the removal of certain debris to get work done and I must have disturbed the bees, avoiding a sting. Until Casey came and sprayed the nest we heavily benched and cleared parts of that 40ft section and finished after lunch with a silky-smooth trail+spring. After lunch we took a field trip to the Eastern slope of Lack’s Cr, absorbing our working environment and stopping for berries along the way.

Day 8, 8/23, was a sequel to last Saturday’s work on the trail, only we exceeded the tread length by 135ft, leaving 335ft of trail on a gnarly stretch, 2 beautiful 3.5ft drains (2people on each), 1 5ft drain (3people), and one rockless drainage flume (1person). I ended the day feeling accomplished, and I think this feeling was mutual.
We awoke on Day 9, 8/24, sweating in our sleeping bags. We knew today we’d hammer out the trail’s finale before 2:30 when we’d return to clean tools, inventory food, and generally prepare for tomorrow’s evacuation. The flagged to-be-trail snaked across decommissioned logging roads, making us level packed dirt ‘speed bumps’ and uproot quite a few stumps. That didn’t stop us, though, from treading 300ft and concluding this hitch in good spirits…was that really 10 days??

Hitch Leader: David Nestor
After spending their time off in San Fran, the Wild Corps continued their work in the King Range. The first task was to get everyone to the bottom of the Cooskie Spur trail. After a windy night sleepiing in an old light house we were there. Unfortunatly we only had a little time to work with our fearless Leader, Megan, who would be leaving for some well earned time with her family and loved ones.
We completed in four days, a full quarter mile of trail reroute. The new trail now leads hikers across a beautiful hill side instead of along the beach. Hikers on The Lost Coast Trail will still have plenty of sand to cross and the hill offers a great view of the ocean.
After finishing the trail the crew moved up Cooskie Spur Trail and along the ridge to a new camp at Cooskie Creek. Along the way we replanted about 20 trail markers knocked over by cows who use them as scratching posts.
Once at the creek we split in two teams. One team building a stair case out of rock leading down to tthe creek. The other team headed up from the creek to lopper out Cooskie Creek trail. The stairs that were built are not only beautiful but, bomb proof. Now a lovely set of six steps take you down to the crystal clear water for a crossing. After our ten days we packed up and made the short climb up to Windy Point to our truck. We got a lot done, missed Megan, got soaked from the mist, and helped reroute The Lost Coast Trail. It was time for chocolate MILK!

Hitch 1 (June 7th – 17th)

Day 1,2: Lost Coast Trail – Southern Segment / Chinquapin Trail / Nedalos Trail (9 miles cleared)

The first two days of Hitch 1 we worked on the Lost Coast Trail – Southern Segment clearing blow down with crosscut and handsaws, as well as clearing brush and opening the trail corridor with loppers. We set off on Day 1 from the Hidden Valley Trail Head southward on the Lost Coast Trail working our way towards the Chinquapin Trail loop, which we completed before returning to the trail head. On Day 2, after spending the night back at our BLM head quarters, we worked from Nadelos Trail Head west towards the Lost Coast Trail, once we connected back to the Lost Coast Trail we worked south clearing trail until hitting the southernmost point of the King Range National Conservation Area just south of Red Hill where the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park Begins.

Day 3,4: Buck Creek Trail / Lost Coast Trail – North Segment (9.7 miles cleared)

After spending the night again at BLM head quarters, we started the seconded installment of Hitch 1. Day 3 we worked our way south from Saddle Mountain Trail Head clearing blow down and widening the trail corridor along Buck Creek Trail. After a long day we camped at a beautiful site at the mouth of Buck Creek, where the creek collides with the Pacific Ocean. Day 4 we hiked south along the beach on the Northern Segment of the Lost Coast Trail. Hiking with full packs and tools in loose sand is a challenge, but the incredible view of California’s Pacific coast made up for the sore feet. We made our way to Black Sands Beach, where the SCA truck had been shuttled.

Day 5,6,7,8,9,10: Lightning Trail / King Crest Trail (8 miles cleared)

After a nice warm meal and restful sleep at BLM head quarters we headed out for the final installment of Hitch 1. Day 5 started at Lightning Trail Head, from there we cleared blow down south towards Maple Camp, where we would set up base camp and spend the remainder of our hitch. Days 6 and 7 were spent opening the trail corridor of King Crest Trail using primarily loppers and hand saws, we also had the opportunity to get some crosscuts singing near Saddle Mountain. Day 8 we worked up to King Peak, notching a large tree that had fallen over the trail along the way. We got creative with the crosscuts and made a foot hold and a notch to get a comfortable grip with your hand, this obstacle should now be manageable by hikers with heavy packs. King Peak was windy, but we ate lunch at the peak and admired the view from the highest point in the King Range. On Day 9 we completed two re-tread areas on the ridge and worked our way down King Crest Trail touching up the brushing we started on days 5 and 6. Day 10 started early with a fast and efficient breakdown of base camp. After camp was packed we made the trek out down the mountain back to the truck, the downhill hike was a nice finish to a successful first hitch.

The Wild Corps is a 6-month, backcountry crew starting off in the King Range of Northern California. Nestled between the Mattole River and Pacific Ocean, the King Range National Conservation Area is one of the most pristine areas of Humboldt County. Our 5-member crew has been working hard cross cutting blow down and brushing overgrown trails. We have been working in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management, and when we're not in the field, we're camping outside the BLM wildifire bunkhouse.

After we've finished up 4 hitches at the King Range, we will be traveling to Arcata, Bishop, Surprise, Alturas and finally, Piedres Blancas come November. We will be doing everything from general trail maintenance to wildnerness restoration.

We are a peppy and spry group of youngsters enthusiastic about doing conservation work and fostering the development of a tight community.