May was a busy month for volunteer projects here at ForestWatch. We’ve been slowly getting back to pre-COVID levels of volunteer projects this year, and we have many more to come this month and in the fall!
One of our most exciting projects last month was thanks to an amazing team effort with the California Conservation Corps’ Watershed Stewards Program (WSP) in partnership with AmeriCorps. This project was aimed at removing invasive Cape ivy in the Cold Spring Canyon area near Montecito and organized by WSP corpsmember, Lauren Zaragoza. ForestWatch was thrilled to help plan this project—we worked on surveying the canyon for Cape ivy infestations and co-leading a volunteer event to ensure that native plants weren’t removed accidentally. We also provided educational information to the volunteers about the native flora and fauna seen along the hike to the Cape ivy sites.
Through this effort we were able to remove a significant amount of Cape ivy from the canyon, but there’s still more work to be done to eradicate what’s left. This wouldn’t have been possible without our partners at WSP, interns from UCSB, and the hard-working volunteers who spent their Saturday ripping up invasive vines. We have some wonderful photos of the event thanks to local photographer Jimmy Zhan:
We also hosted a couple of microtrash cleanups in the Santa Ynez Mountains in late April and May. Volunteers helped remove spent lead ammo and broken glass at Arroyo Burro Trailhead along East Camino Cielo. We’ve been working on this illegal target shooting site for a few years—and there’s still much to be done there. This site is right along Arroyo Burro Trail as it heads south down the mountains toward Santa Barbara. Across the road is the currently-closed Arroyo Burro Shooting Area (often called “The Glass Factory”), and the site at the Arroyo Burro Trailhead has likely been used as an overflow shooting area in years past despite not being designated for such use. To make matters worse, it’s at the headwaters of San Antonio Creek, which flows through Santa Barbara and Goleta below and on to the ocean.
A different group of volunteers worked on removing the same kind of microtrash from old target shooting at the West Fork Cold Spring Trailhead along Gibraltar Road. We’ve also been working on cleaning this site for a few years, and we’re very close to being done. Fortunately, target shooting hasn’t occurred here for many years thanks to good signage installation in the area and the popularity of the trailhead for hikers, runners, and mountain bikers. When we first started working on removing microtrash from this area, the first stretch of trail glittered in the sunlight with broken glass. Thanks to the work of our awesome volunteers over the years, the trail is noticeably less glittery now. And much of the lead has been safely removed by hand as well!
Thanks to everyone who helped with this spring cleaning in and around the Los Padres National Forest! And a big thanks to UCSB Coastal Fund for continuing to financially support these efforts and our internship program. We have several more opportunities coming up. Check out our Eventbrite page to register for upcoming volunteer projects.
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