San Gorgonio Wilderness Volunteer Partnership

Location:

Southern California east of LA

Case Description

The San Gorgonio Ranger District of the San Bernardino National Forest has found a very resourceful way to stretch its thin budget by harnessing the dedication and energy of the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association (SGWA). This 200-member organization donated more than 15,000 person-hours of volunteer time to the District in 2002, and made more than 15,500 visitor contacts during volunteer wilderness patrols. Its volunteers also provided all of the staffing for the District's Barton Flats Visitor Center, conducting interpretive programs and interacting with over 6,500 forest visitors there.

The impetus for this beneficial relationship began more than thirty years ago during a heated wilderness battle in the 1960s. Nestled high in the beautiful San Bernardino mountains but within an hour's drive of more than 7.5 million people, the forest was and is a favorite destination of southern Californians eager to escape urban living for the weekend. Hiking enthusiasts formed a group called the Defenders of the San Gorgonio Wilderness and waged a successful battle to have the area designated as wilderness rather than a downhill ski resort. Over the next decade their love for the area and commitment to its protection evolved into a desire to work to maintain the wilderness area and teach visitors how to minimize their impact on it. When the Forest Service solicited volunteers for backcountry wilderness patrols twenty years ago, many Defenders and other wilderness enthusiasts eagerly signed up. Within a couple of years, these volunteers decided to band together into an organization, and the San Gorgonio Volunteer Association was born. In 2000, the organization changed its name to the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association. The Defenders were instrumental in getting the infant SGVA on its feet by helping out with initial funding and organizational needs. Alice Krueper, the late Secretary of the Defenders and one of the founders of the SGVA, explained the motivation of the volunteers, "The San Gorgonio is so important to many of us, such a part of our lives."

 

The SGWA has filled a neglected niche for the district. According to Barb Ward, the district's interpretive specialist, there was a "need for a Forest Service presence" in the Forest due to its popularity as a recreation site. The San Gorgonio is one of the most visited wilderness areas in the nation and, as Krueper described, was being "loved to death," with certain popular areas being trampled into "dustbowls." Bob Shuker, the wilderness manager for the San Gorgonio Wilderness at the time, saw the volunteers as an opportunity too good to pass up and began organizing them into wilderness teams to patrol the area's seven trailhead entrances.

In the late 1980s, volunteer use was expanded. The District's small visitor center in Barton Flats, which had been closed during the budget cuts of the early 1980s, was re-opened using all volunteer staff. Under their care, the center has expanded from being solely an information and book-selling operation to including interactive exhibits and programs. In addition, the Forest now hosts an annual summer celebration at the center which takes approximately 25 volunteers to staff.

 

The volunteer program was later expanded to include naturalist interpretive activities. These include both campfire programs in the campground and programs at the 26 children’s camps within forest boundaries. Some 30,000 children, primarily from inner-city areas in southern California, pass through these camps each summer. Interpretive volunteers also help provide support for guest speakers, such as with audio-visual equipment or answering questions about the area, and walk around the campgrounds before programs inviting all campers to come, an activity which Forest Service staff says "doubles attendance."

 

In addition to wilderness patrols, interpretation and staffing the visitor center, the SGWA performs trail maintenance work and has rebuilt the visitor center. The Association also periodically helps pay for District projects, such as interpretive exhibits, and repair of the water system and toilets at the visitor center, from money collected selling books and maps at the visitors center. The District has invested much time and energy into cultivating and training the volunteers. Three Forest Service employees -- the interpretive specialist, recreation manager and wilderness coordinator -- attend the SGWA Board's monthly meetings. They also train the volunteers for all activities they will perform on the National Forest. Volunteers are asked to attend a weekend training session in May where they learn such things as the history of the Forest Service and the San Gorgonio National Forest. For interpretive program volunteers, there is a day-long interpretation training on how to plan programs. One year, District staff also organized a field trip to the Joshua Tree National Monument so the volunteers could observe programs there.

Accomplishments

The San Gorgonio Wilderness Association partnership is considered a huge success by the District because, through the volunteers' efforts, some 30,000 additional visitors have had personal contact with a Forest Service representative. The volunteers all wear a Forest Service uniform bearing a volunteer badge. According to the District Ranger, "It goes without saying that without the association's involvement, the[se]...contacts would not have been made."

 

In a high-use recreation area such as the San Gorgonio Wilderness, these interactions benefit both the people and the Forest: visitors receive educational programs which help increase their appreciation and enjoyment of the Forest; volunteer wilderness patrols teach visitors how to minimize their impact on the Forest environment. Krueper attested to the positive impact of having volunteer patrols present in the wilderness to ensure that all visitors have proper permits, thereby avoiding overuse in any one area: "It took some 15 years for some nice areas to recover after they began the wilderness permits patrols. One of the nicest things about volunteering has been watching these areas come back."

 

Likewise, the interaction between volunteers and the inner-city school children who attend the large number of summer camps operating within the Forest is another benefit of the volunteer program. Ward stresses the importance of being able to provide the campers with volunteer-staffed environmental education programs. "For many of them, it's their first contact with a forest ranger. We want it to be positive, for them to come away having had a good experience with nature...to help teach them an environmental ethic."

This site was developed by the Ecosystem Management Initiative through a partnership with the US Forest Service and the US Department of Interior. Read more.