Volunteers gather at Poste Homestead

By Kurt Schauppner
The Desert Trail


The cleanup at the Poste Homestead on Saturday, Sept. 26 was one of 82 statewide projects undertaken as part of National Public Lands Day. (Trail photo by Kurt Schauppner)


WONDER VALLEY — With about 75 participants doing everything from picking up the remains of a burned-out trailer to managing trails to putting up a kiosk and signs, the cleanup project at the Poste Homestead Site on Saturday, Sept. 26 was called a success.

Organized by the Bureau of Land Management with help from several lo-cal groups, including Community ORV Watch, the cleanup was one of 82 projects scheduled around California for National Public Lands Day.

In addition to the satisfaction of helping clean up an historic site, participants received T-shirts, lunch and a mini concert at Palms Restaurant in Wonder Valley.

Another project took people into Joshua Tree National Park to pick up litter, restore trails and make paper pots for Arid Land Restoration.

Mickey Quillman, one of the BLM organizers, said Saturday morning that he and Phil Klasky from Community ORV Watch did some restoration work at the homestead site about six months ago.

“We applaud the BLM and all the groups who came out to clean up and protect this special community resource,” Klasky said Saturday.

He said he thought about holding his office’s National Public Lands Day project somewhere else but added that the people of Wonder Valley convinced him otherwise.

“The people here care,” he said, adding that across the nation some 130,000 people were expected to take part in National Public Lands Day events.

We’ll do some great things today,” Klasky said.

After gathering at the Palms Restaurant a few miles from the homestead site and getting a quick safety briefing — wear gloves and decent shoes, watch out for critters, keep an eye on the kids — volunteers caravanned to the homestead for a morning of hard work.

Diana Akins, pausing between carrying handfuls of trash to a large Dumpster, said she took part in the project to help the community and because of her own memories of the homestead site.

“We used to use the place as a picnic for the kids,” she said. “It’s just gone to heck.”

Mickey Quillman’s wife, Mari, paused between carrying bundles of dried twigs to camouflage an illegal trail to say she was using the day in part as a learning opportunity.

“I am a wildlife biologist,” she said. “I wanted to learn how to do this. I am doing some mine restoration at the Mojave National Preserve and will be looking to close some trails.”

Pauline Dargis drove out from Twentynine Palms to take part in the project after hearing about it on the radio.

“I’ve never actually been out here,” Wonder Valley resident Richard Gosin said while raking a trail.

“I’ve been a weekender since the 1970s,” he said, adding that he still remembers the advertising slogan “blue skies, good water, clean air, sunshine” that drew him out to the area.

BLM Archaeologist Jim Shearer spent part of his time at the homestead removing what was left of the original homestead’s roof.

Time and the elements had made it a safety hazard, he said.

“It’s good, it’s good exercise, great people,” volunteer Chris Carraher said. “You really see, by the end of the day, a big difference.

“We live here right at the edge of the wild desert. This establishes not only the wild values but also the historical values and how that all comes together.”

Volunteers Sought to Help Restore Bonanza Springs

News Release

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
California Desert District

Volunteers willing to roll up their sleeves for a day are needed to help restore Bonanza Springs. As part of the 15th annual National Public Lands Day, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008, volunteers will help eradicate tamarisk and arundo, which have endangered the spring’s vitality, as well as install a pedestrian pass-through gate, maintain and reclaim trails, and install natural stones from the wash as stepping stones.

Lunch will be provided to the first 50 registered volunteers. All volunteers will receive a free NPLD t-shirt and a pass good for one free entry, any day during the next year, at public land sites managed by the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the BLM, or the US Army Corp of Engineers.

"Last year we reached a monumental participation of 110,000 volunteers on National Public Lands Day, and we are expecting to increase this by an additional 10,000 this year," said Robb Hampton, director of National Public Lands Day. This year, National Public Lands Day commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps and is sponsored for the ninth consecutive year by Toyota Motor Sales, USA.

Bonanza Springs is a small oasis 45 miles west of Needles, just north of Route 66 between Essex and Chambless, Calif. This small spring in the desert makes surrounding uplands inhabitable by wildlife for up to several miles.

Nearly a decade ago, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began clearing Bonanza Springs of noxious weeds, which were choking the life out of the springs. Tamarisk, often called salt cedar, is an evergreen shrub or tree growing to 50 feet in height and forming dense thickets. It can spread both by submerged stems and by seeds. Each flower can produce thousands of tiny seeds that are contained in a small capsule, usually adorned with a tuft of hair that aids in wind dispersal. Seeds can also be dispersed by water. Tamarisk species are fire-adapted and have long tap roots that allow them to intercept deep water tables and exploit natural water resources. They are able to limit competition from other plants by taking up salt from deep ground water, accumulating it in their foliage and depositing it in the surface soil. The salt build ups can be detrimental to other plants.

Arundo is a tall, perennial reed, growing in fresh and moderately saline water. It can grow to 30 feet in ideal conditions. This vegetative growth appears to be well adapted to floods, breaking up into individual clumps, spreading the pieces, then sprouting and colonizing further downstream. In 2007, BLM employees, with the help of volunteers, placed thick, black tarpaulins over the arundo to prevent light from reaching the plant, reducing its ability to photosynthesize. The lack of light eventually depletes the plants energy reserves, causing it to die back. Since the tarps have been in place for more than a year, they will be picked up and moved to other spots within the Bonanza Springs area.

To find out more about the project, including what to bring, directions, or to register as a volunteer, please contact Elaine Downing at edowning@ca.blm.gov or (760) 326-7003, or visit the website, Needles Field Office - Volunteer Program.