Tag Archives: OHV restoration

Celebrating our Public Lands

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National Public Lands Day (NPLD), according to the National Parks Service website, “is [an event] organized annually and led by the National Environmental Education Foundation, in partnership with the National Park Service and other federal agencies.” The day involves, “…hundreds of thousands of volunteers roll[ing] up their sleeves to help restore and preserve public lands of all types and sizes…” including our National Forests. This event, celebrated annually on the fourth Saturday of September, gives an opportunity for the public to show an appreciation for the unique green spaces many of us use for recreation and our local flora and fauna call home.

The San Bernardino National Forest (SBNF) celebrated NPLD 2024 this year by organizing a volunteer restoration event held in partnership with the Southern California Mountains Foundation (SCMF) on Saturday September 28th. I was one of the staff members on hand facilitating this event alongside the volunteers, and I was so happy to be able to do so. It not only was a great way to personally reflect on my love for our public lands but to also get to share that passion and love with members of our local community.

Preparation for our NPLD volunteer event began two weeks prior with a scouting trip to several of our restoration sites in Miller Canyon a popular off-highway vehicle (OHV) spot east of Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area. Myself along side Koby Bench (SBNF restoration), Jorge Rodriguez (SBNF restoration/botany), Kimi Bechtol (SBNF recreation), and Lili Ortega (IERCD) identified a restoration site that seemed most friendly for volunteer work (i.e. relatively accessible for consumer vehicles and well shaded). Our site was located off forest service road 2N33, also known as Pilot Rock Truck Trail. This black oak woodland-meadow had been degraded due to heavy OHV use and intervention was needed in order to restore its historic beauty and ecologic function.

Restoration site for NPLD off forest service road 2N33 showing a degraded turn-off area likely due to OHV use (back left).

Continued preparation was needed to get the site ready for volunteers to help with the work to be done here. First, t-post fence was installed and slash (pieces of wood and other natural material spread to act as barriers preventing unauthorized use) was laid to prevent further OHV travel into the turn-off area. Scouting was also done of the surrounding plant communities to identify native species naturally present and get an idea of what plants we could pull from our nursery to begin to revegetate the area successfully and maintain the structure of the ecosystem. Some of the species we identified for restoration use in this area included California aster (Corethrogyne filaginifolia), Cobweb thistle (Cirsium occidentale), and rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa).

In order for plants to be put into the heavily compacted soil at this restoration site, holes had to be dug. With the help of the SCMF and a crew from the Urban Conservation Corp (UCC) we got to work using gas powered augers to begin the arduous process. We planned to drill at least 300 holes for out-planting, and in total that day with all the additional hands we were able to get 360 potential holes in the ground. Bamboo stakes were used to mark each out-planting hole after they were dug to help minimize the very real tripping risk created while they were empty. Ultimately, augering is sweaty work but it was made more enjoyable through the company of the crews from all 3 organizations coming together and collaborating toward a joint goal of preserving our public land, and this is the essence of what National Public Land Day is all about!

Images of Jorge Rodriguez and I preparing out-planting holes using gas-powered augers at the NPLD restoration site.

With the site itself prepared for our volunteers, we spent the following days filling the forest service vehicles with the necessary tools to make NPLD a success. Shovels, signs, golves, water tanks, EZ ups, folding tables, seed, and of course plants were loaded up prior to Saturday morning when we began meeting volunteers off highway 173 in Lake Arrowhead around 9am. In total approximately 36 people (excluding staff) showed up volunteering their time to show an appreciation for our public lands. Everyone was in good spirit (despite the many gnats harassing us as we talked) as we began to form a caravan of vehicles headed the short drive to our restoration site. Once at the site we did a safety talk and instructed them on the out-planting work we had planned for the day. Work began setting up the EZ ups for shade when breaks were required and setting up tables with clean gloves for everyone to grab in order to ensure the know pathogens were being introduced by us to the plants we could eventually spread them into the surrounding ecosystem. Plants were then unloaded from the trucks and placed still in their nursery bullets into their planned holes, a first introduction to their new homes outside of the forest service nursery in Big Bear.

Unloading California milkweed (Ascelpias californica) from the forest service truck bed alongside volunteer and staff waiting to grab additional trays of out-plants for our restoration site.

With all hands on deck the work of outplanting went fast. We planned to strategically put our less cuddly plants (Cobweb thistle and chaparral yucca) toward the perimeter closest to the roadside in order to further discourage activity in the area. The rest of the plants were randomly assigned spots within the restoration site. Planting occurred quickly with the amount of help we received. It was a pleasure to talk with volunteers about what they were planting and what had brought them out on that day and this all made the time fly by quickly. Plants were watered thoroughly to hopefully ease some of the stress of planting and a small lip (or berm) was left around the border of each plant to help the water to better saturate deep into the ground our plants now will be calling home.

Myself and Jorge Rodriguez planting into the restoration site (left) and an example of a successfully planted milkweed seedling (right)

The finishing touches had to be put onto the site before we could fully call it a day on our NPLD fun. We had prepared a native seed mix to be spread around the site (using some seed I personally collected just down the forest service road a few days prior). This mix contained only seed that had been sourced locally from Lake Arrowhead and was therefore genetically adapted to the area. Some of the species in the seed mix included: California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), Interior goldenbush (Ericameria linearifolia), Wood’s rose (Rosa woodsii), and Sticky cinquefoil (Drymocallis glandulosa). A sign was also installed in the center of the site identifying the presence of sensitive species in the area and also marking it as a monarch habitat area due to the several milkweed species we planted there (Asclepias eriocarpa and A. californica). The day officially reached a conclusion with a delicious lunch of sandwiches (provided by SCMF) and some forest service goodies we handed out to the volunteers to thank them for all their hard work.

Lili Ortega and I spreading native seed mix throughout the restoration site (left) and the installed restoration sign identifying the area (right).

I was so thankful to be able to help with the organizing and implementation of this years NPLD event with the SBNF. With the help of volunteers from the public we were able to do in a day work that would have taken at least a week of visits if not more if we had to do it on our own. NPLD highlights the essential need for collaboration in restoration and conservation work. When you see a successfully restored area know that it is not the work of an individual but of a community of people rolling up their sleeves to preserve these areas for years to come!

Reclaiming the Wild and Sewing Seeds of Purpose

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In July, our San Bernardino National Forest CLM team has continued to make more seed collections, but when I look back on the month, what really sticks out to me is all of the great restoration efforts we’ve been a part of! From monitoring and watering past restoration sites to preparing for the restoration of future sites, this month has really put into perspective the purpose of the work that we’re doing.

At the SBNF, the majority of our restoration crew is funded through our OHV restoration grant and it’s no wonder! A lot of the destruction caused to this forest is related to the popularity of OHVs and their misuse of our trails and FS roads. OHV riders often ride and stage in unauthorized areas and eventually these previously wild areas are reduced to compact dirt trails or patches. When this happens, it becomes difficult for some riders to differentiate between an authorized area and an illegal one. This in turn perpetuates the misuse of our forest.

An especially bad day to be a plant. While this may look like a fun day outdoors, these vehicles are parked in an unauthorized zone that the SBNF has been trying to manage for over a year. (This image serves as an example of OHV destruction, but is unrelated to the Big Pine Flats restoration project discussed in this blog post)

The SBNF restoration team is constantly monitoring, fencing, and slashing new areas to prevent them from getting this bad. But, it can be difficult to keep up with the work that’s needed all over our mountain and sometimes these OHV damage sites require more than just fencing and slashing. That’s when our amazing volunteers come in and help us reclaim these wild areas.

Big Pine Flats Green Thumbs Volunteer Event

Big Pine Flats, the site of our most recent Green Thumbs volunteer event, is a beautiful area within our forest with a family campground and a relatively new OHV staging area. Before the designation of this staging area, the popularity of OHV riding in Big Pine Flats led to unauthorized staging and the destruction of some previously wild areas. The SBNF team has been working to regulate the use of this area now that we have a designated staging area and this month our volunteers were able to help us finish our Big Pine Flats restoration project!

The plan for this volunteer event was to outplant 158 of our greenhouse plants, and do some weeding, watering, and seed collection/dispersal. In the days leading up to the volunteer event, we visited the site and prepared the compact dirt for the incoming plant heroes: Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus and Penstemon grinnellii.

First time wielding the auger!
Hole 1 of 158…

After digging 158 holes that week and loading up a couple of trucks with everything our volunteers might need for our planting day, we were ready for the big day! Our volunteers helped us plant the Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus and Penstemon grinnellii plants we’ve been growing in our nursery (from seeds collected by the SBNF restoration team!!) to speed up the restoration of the area and aid in species diversity. While working hard to restore this area, I was able to meet many of the lovely people volunteering that day. They each had their own individual experiences with volunteering and what the work means to them, but the running theme seemed to be a love for the outdoors and the satisfaction they get from helping us keep these areas beautiful and wild.

A precious Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus baby ready to change the world :’-)
An overview of the restoration area at the end of our volunteer event

They helped us get all 158 plants into the ground and watered, then we moved on to weeding and seed collection. We collected native seeds from the plants in the surrounding area and walked around the restoration side scattering the seeds onto the ground. As we dispersed the seeds and our volunteer event came to an end, I couldn’t help but feel so happy about the work we do. We are helping to preserve the native species diversity of the area while creating events for like minded people to connect and be a part of meaningful work for the future of our forest. I’m so grateful for all of the help we had that day and can’t wait for our next volunteer event!