Working with California State Parks
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Sarah Gadomski stencils "DPR" (Department of Parks and Recreation) on tables in a building in Russian Gulch State Park near Mendocino, CA. California State Parks recently acquired multiple tables and chairs and assigned us to "brand" them using black paint.
Unopened boxes of tables and chairs purchased by Cal State Parks.
Alyssa Pun stencils "DPR" on a number of chairs.
In another assignment from Cal State Parks, NCCC Corps Members repaired old fencing in Van Damme State Park, just south of Mendocino, CA. The fencing was installed around campsites in the state parks and by the park's entrance in the 1940s and 1950s. The wood used was from old growth redwoods that were cut down earlier in the century. The fences had deteriorated over time and to repair them, we used other old growth redwoods posts that had been sitting around since the mid 1900s. The wood is naturally resilient to weathering, making it a choice wood for fencing.
NCCC Corps Members continue to repair redwood fencing in Van Damme State Park.
The crew commissions single track trail in a recreational area by Pyramid Lake, NV managed by the BLM. We were charged with creating a re-route for OHVs around an area that was recently designated as culturally sensitive. We were apparently not qualified to know what was culturally sensitive about the area, but we gathered that this area, named Spirit Canyon, was of significance to neighboring Native American tribes who perhaps performed rituals in this Canyon. Above, the crew walks through Spirit Canyon.
After work on Thursday, the last day of hitch, we take a dip into Pyramid Lake.
The crew walks over the trail at the end of the day to return to camp for the evening.
A GBI vehicle has no choice but to venture through a flooded road. There were certainly no intact, water-free adjacent roads we could have taken instead.
A week after the NCC summer orientation and formation of new crews built from both old and new members, newly-fashioned NCC crews began work around Nevada. We are building new tread at Wilson Canyon, a gorge of volcanic cliffs cut by the Walker River a little west of Yerington. The new trail will have been started and completed by this crew in a period of two weeks.
On the third day of hitch, winds between 60 and 90 mph picked up, causing a small sandstorm and preventing us from continuing work for the rest of the day.
Waiting for the entire crew to gather before leaving Wilson Canyon due to severe strong winds.
Young Kim prepares dinner for the crew after work.
The crew continues building tread.
NCC crewmembers worked 20 miles east of Fallon, NV at Sand Mountain to decommission unauthorized OHV roads. Sand Mountain, a 
The dry lake bed of ancient Lake Lahonton can be seen in the distance. Formed by glaciers over 10,000 years ago, climate change led to the gradual dessication of the lake. As the water level dropped, the lake broke up into a series of smaller lakes. The lake here dried up about 4,000 years ago.
NCC crewmembers decommission roads during precipitation in the Sand Mountain area outside of Fallon, NV. The mountains in the distance belong to the Clan Alpine Mountain Range.
A lizard sunbathes on a rock in the Sand Mountain Recreation Area.
Decommissioning of unauthorized OHV roads in the Sand Mountain Recreation Area. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages these 4,795 acres of designated recreation area, used primarily by OHVs. An endemic species called the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly lives only in this area and was recently petitioned to be listed as a threatened or endangered species. The butterfly is almost completely dependent on Kearney Buckwheat, a plant that continues to diminish due to unchecked OHV use on non-designated areas. Decommissioning unauthorized roads at Sand Mountain will prevent further lose of habitat for the endemic butterfly.
NCC crewmembers take a break.
Sand Mountain.
As part of our year-long term with the Nevada Conservation Corps, we are required to participate in a number of extracurricular volunteer activities. These "mandatory volunteer days," as we like to call them, are spread throughout the year and between Las Vegas and Reno. On this day (which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day), when we'd normally go off on hitch for the week, we get the day "off" but then must come to the volunteer day. That's how our holidays generally work... Oh and we still need to make up the one day of hitch we lost by working an extra day at the end of the week (Tuesday - Friday; we normally get Friday off). No bitterness there. None at all. In any case, we worked with Habitat for Humanity this day to help place clay roof tiles on new houses for low income families. There was also painting to be done and a few other odd jobs.
NCCers work vigilantly on this scaffolding to transport clay roofing tile on top of these houses.
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval showed up to the site during this volunteer day, gave a small speech in front of the press, then helped out a bit.
NCC crewmembers pass tiles along to be brought up to the roof.
Nevada Conservation Corps Crew No. 3 finishes their trail work for the day at the Valley of Fire State Park in southern Nevada.
Jamie Sauer at the Petrified Logs area of Valley of Fire.
Me at White Domes, Valley of Fire.
Ben Nicklay pauses from creating a trail feature at White Domes, Valley of Fire.
Joel Ogulnick at White Domes, Valley of Fire.
