Eastern Sierra Magic and Bristlecone Pines: Service in California's White Mountains

The Trip

The Eastern Sierra has its own special magic—mountain ramparts including Mt. Whitney face broad valleys of iconic ranch landscapes. Join other Sierra Club volunteers as we contribute to a research project tackling the control and eradication of invasive tumbleweed. The ultimate goals of ecosystem restoration and preservation fall into perspective when we have the opportunity during a free day excursion to view and touch a still living tree alive more than 1,000 years ago. This easily accessible area is one of the few places to find bristlecone pines, among the planet’s oldest living organisms.

If you enjoy the meditative satisfactions of weeding (and weed whacking!) combined with the bonus of like-minded company, this service project could be a good mid-summer fit. You’ll be helping to continue a valued and long-standing Sierra Club partnership with the Ridgecrest Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management focused on invasive species that degrade local ecosystems and affect the many land uses overseen by BLM. 

By contributing to this important research dedicated to controlling tumbleweed, an invasive species inadvertently brought to the West, we will be following in the tradition of land stewardship practiced for thousands of years by the local Paiute tribe of Native Americans.

This remote-location project is safely reachable by regular vehicles. We’ll be tenting together in a rustic yet appealing spot by an always flowing, shaded stream. And the nature of our work will be well within the physical capabilities of anyone reasonably fit. Options exist for sociably working in groups or occasionally working on our own to soak in the absolute silence and the stunning sweep of our surroundings.

If you have a few extra days there are many tempting local possibilities. Famous Highway 395 through Inyo County connects a string of small, quirky towns each worthy of further exploration. In addition to Mt. Whitney Portal and local state parks beloved by rock climbers, the area also includes several small museums and the Manzanar National Historic Site, providing a moving and comprehensive overview of the incarceration experience of Japanese-Americans during WWII.

The Project

This experimental restoration project attempts to control tumbleweed, an invasive species first introduced into the western United States in the 1870s as a contaminant in flaxseed imported from Europe. It can quickly establish itself in resource-poor systems and at sites with disturbed soils. In eastern California and Nevada, it is commonly found along roadsides, in intensive use areas, in dune systems, and in dry lakebeds. At our site, tumbleweed has outcompeted and taken over much of the site’s most valuable forage for cattle and wildlife, reducing the vigor and extent of the stands of winterfat found on the dry lakebed, which here are truly exceptional and vast.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Ridgecrest Field Office has been working at this site for five years now. Taking an integrated pest management approach and attacking on multiple fronts, they focus on life stages when it is most vulnerable. As a summer annual, plants germinate in early spring, mature from spring into summer, flower and produce seed in the late summer into fall. A single plant can produce up to 250,000 seeds. Seeds spread as mature plants break off and tumble free in the wind. However, most seeds (up to 90%) are not viable after the first year. They either germinate or die. No seeds are viable after 3 years. They aim to reduce and eliminate the seed bank by spraying a pre-emergent, early post-emergent herbicide in April when the plants are most susceptible to herbicide. We’ll help follow up in July with hand-pulling plants or weed-whacking off tops (flowering heads) of plants before they go to seed. They hope to start collecting and broadcasting native seeds and planting native plants to restore the area and outcompete tumbleweed soon. The long-term goal of the project is full restoration with recruitment of native vegetation. Our volunteer service will be a critical part of the eventual success of this research project.

On our first day we’ll meet at Big Pine Recreation Area Information Center/Glacier View Campground on the SE corner of the intersection of Highways 395 and 168 at 10 AM to caravan together to Cottonwood Creek, a perennially flowing wild and scenic river. This creek hosts large cottonwood trees, willows, and big sage brush communities with opportunities to hike, bird watch and cool down in the water. This is an undeveloped area. There are user-created large group campsites with room for parking and tents and informal fire rings. There is no potable water on-site. We will ask each participant to bring 5 gallons of water each to provide for our needs. BLM will provide simple toilet facilities and solar showers for the duration of the trip. 

The camp is within 5 miles of our primary work site. We will carpool in our own vehicles back and forth from our work site each day on a well-maintained dirt road. At the work site, BLM will provide shade structures with ice and coolers as well as the tools (trowels, buckets, and contractor bags) needed to complete work at the weed site. On our off day (possibly mid-week), we will offer a range of unguided and guided activities for participants to choose from, from hanging out in camp and exploring Cottonwood Creek to visiting the Bristlecone Pine Forest or Eureka Dunes. We’ll be probably working two days at the beginning, enjoy our day off, finish up during a final two days and our last day we’ll all help break down and restore our campsite, salute our work over breakfast, and caravan back out together to Highway 168 for last hugs and farewells.

Getting There

Big Pine, our meeting place, is about a 4.5- to 5-hour drive from the major metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, or Reno. Once there, our routes will be taken together with care, and no special vehicles are required. The trip leader will help facilitate ride-sharing for participants, so we’ll all be safe and comfortable on our initial transit into the camping site and on daily drives to our worksites. There are many local options for camping or lodging before and after the trip. Please do not make travel arrangements until the leader has confirmed you as a trip member.

Accommodations and Food

We will be tent camping in an undeveloped area with dispersed informal sites and we will be striving for minimal additional site impact. We’re asking each participant to bring five gallons of water to contribute to the group supply. There will be a portable toilet facility brought in for our use as well as a solar shower. We’ll be mindful of water usage, minimizing waste and safe disposal practices.

Come with the attitude that food is part of the adventure. Under the guidance of our cook and with the help of our participants, we will offer delicious and imaginative meals and snacks suited to the work projects and campers’ needs and preferences. Meals will be “plant forward” with some opportunities for meat during the week. 

We will have a group commissary with everyone taking turns in meal preparation and clean-up afterward. All breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks are included in the trip price, beginning with dinner on day one and ending with breakfast on day seven. Within our budget, we strive to choose food options that are organic and produce the minimum amount of waste.

Trip Difficulty

This project will be moderately strenuous yet well within the ability of a reasonably fit person. Choose your favorite approach to weeding and settle into your patch. Hand pulling new growth will be repetitive and relatively easy and made easier with leather work gloves and perhaps a lightweight foam kneeling pad. There will be opportunities to take a turn with the weed whacker. We’ll be focusing on sun protection, hydration and stretching out any kinks. At this slightly elevated altitude we’ll take regular breaks to enjoy our surroundings and have a chat.

Equipment and Clothing

Sturdy closed-toe boots for work and hiking and heavy leather gloves are a must; long-sleeved shirts and long, sturdy pants will protect you from thorns and sharp twigs. Bring a great hat to shade you from the sun, a couple of bandanas, and a warm cap and jacket for the crisp mornings and evenings. You’ll need a tent with fly to help keep out the dust, a camp mattress or pad and sleeping bag comfortable down to the high 30s, personal towels, toiletries, insect repellant, and high SPF sunscreen. The daily temperature usually tops out in the high 80s in the afternoons, dropping into the low 40s at night; sometimes lower because of a wind-chill factor. A full equipment list will be sent to registrants. Work tools and instruction in their safe use will be provided by BLM staff.

Cameras, binoculars, and a small telescope for star-gazing (if someone has one) will be welcome additions!

References

Books:

• Austin, Mary, The Land of Little Rain. A series of lyrical essays compiled in one of the foundational environmental writings by a local author whose home is just down Highway 395 from the project meeting point in Big Pine. A 1950 edition was illustrated with photographs by Ansel Adams.
• Foster, Lynne, Adventuring in the California Desert. Sierra Club Books.
• Bossard, Carla C., John M. Randall, Marc C. Hoshovsky, Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands. Available free online at http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/ipcw/online.php

Conservation

Since its founding in 1892, The Sierra Club has worked to preserve and restore the natural environment we all share on this planet. Thousands of grassroots-level volunteers spearhead our efforts to conserve and sustain resources, both in our own backyards and on a global scale. Through direct experience in the outdoors, Sierra Club outings enable participants to better understand, advocate, and participate in the environmental conservation goals of the Club.

Service outings, in particular, stand out as one of the Sierra Club’s most important “boots on the ground” conservation efforts. The work done by service trip participants in our nation’s public lands is a way of practicing conservation in the most direct way possible, whether it’s improving access while preserving wilderness values, restoring wildlife habitat, or repairing human-caused damage to a natural area. Service trips are a great way to pitch in and do something tangible to make the world a better place; they’re a way to go beyond just talking about conservation; a way to get out there and experience conservation with your whole being.

Our expert supervisors share with us some of the secrets of this desert wilderness and the people who have lived there in the past. We’ll have opportunities to discuss aspects of resource conservation and learn more about the challenges in protecting desert environments.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.