416 Extra - Alabama Hills work day

Volunteers take to the hills

“If you ask them....they will come.”

More than 25 volunteers showed up Saturday under bright, blue skies for a project sponsored by the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group and the BLM. The event preceded the official Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service Monday. (text continues below)

About two dozen people stand in a field below jagged rock outcroppings, watching a man point out locations where they will be working

The project led by Dave Kirk, BLM’s steward for the hills, consisted of improving the trail into the “Corridors” climbing area and doing some restoration work along the trail. With the large number of volunteers participating, the work was completed in record time.

Many of the participants were members of the Southern Sierra Climbers Association who combined a climbing trip with the public service project. Local volunteers from Bridgeport to Ridgecrest also participated. (text continues below)

Volunteers dig in a dirt track amid scattered clumps of grass
Volunteers transplant native vegetation.

Volunteers tend to transplanted native plants, along a line of small rocks
Volunteers work on vertical mulching along a trail, among transplanted native plants.

Liz and Kevin Mazzu, owners of the local McDonalds in Lone Pine, provided refreshments and meal coupons at the end of the work.

In November 2006, the BLM Central California Resource Advisory Council met in Lone Pine and expressed its support for the BLM to build upon the grass roots effort of local leaders to frame a community strategy to maintain the character of the Alabama Hills.

- David Christy, BLM Central California District, 1/20/10

BLM-California News.bytes, issue 416