Volunteer Appreciation Weekend at Stonyford OHV Area – January 18-19, 2020

Volunteers at 2019 Summit Valley Post Ranch Fire Restoration Project

The Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance (PWORA) is proud to be an official partner of the volunteer appreciation event at the Stonyford OHV Area on the Mendocino National Forest.  PWORA will be helping support the celebration including the dinner on Saturday night to honor all those who have worked hard to recover and reopen OHV trails damaged by the 2018 Ranch Fire.

See Mendocino National Forest News Release about the event below:

WILLOWS, Calif. – Nov. 21, 2019  – The Grindstone Ranger District off-highway vehicle (OHV) staff is hosting a volunteer appreciation weekend at the Fouts Campground Complex in Stonyford, Calif. January 18-19, 2020. This will be a fun-filled weekend (rain or shine) with special guests, motorcycle demonstrations and food.

The 2018 Ranch Fire burned approximately 288,000 acres on the southern portion of the Mendocino National Forest and became the largest wildfire in California history. The fire adversely impacted the entire OHV trail system on the Forest.

In 2019, numerous volunteers committed to post-fire recovery of the OHV areas and accomplished various tasks such as removing and installing new barriers to keep users on designated routes, replacing dozens of signs and trail markers, removing trees, repairing facilities, removing truckloads of rebar and brushing trails.

In addition, volunteers organized a work weekend to protect the Summit Valley Meadow from OHV intrusion and attended CPR and First Aid training to maintain chainsaw certifications. The volunteers helped restore 100s of miles of trails and contributed 1,078 hours, which surpassed our 2019 goal of 430 volunteer hours. 

Our volunteers go above and beyond to help sustain our forests to meet the needs of present and future generations. This is our opportunity to give back to our volunteers – past, present and new. Join the Grindstone Ranger District OHV staff to thank our volunteers for a job well done.

For more information about the volunteer appreciation weekend, please contact Recreation Technician Paige Makowski at 530-963-1328 or paige.makowski@usda.gov

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PWORA is looking forward to this important celebration.  Please RSVP to: damador@pwora.org

to let us know if you plan to attend and/or if you want to help sponsor the event.  

YAMAHA AWARDS $15,000 DOLLAR GRANT TO THE POST WILDFIRE OHV RECOVERY ALLIANCE

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Don Amador, President

Phone: 925.783.1834

Email: damador@pwora.org

Date:  10/21/2019

YAMAHA AWARDS $15,000 DOLLAR GRANT TO THE POST WILDFIRE OHV RECOVERY ALLIANCE

OAKLEY, CA – Oct. 21 – The Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance (PWORA) is pleased to announce it has received a Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative (OAI) grant of $15,000 dollars to purchase and outfit a post natural disaster Rapid Response Trailer.  The grant was awarded as part of Yamaha’s OAI to promote responsible riding and sustainable management practices at OHV recreation areas.

The grant will be used to purchase an enclosed cargo trailer approximately 8 feet by 20 feet and to help outfit the trailer with supplies, tools, and equipment for volunteer work efforts.

Don Amador, President/CEO of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance, states, “It is truly an honor to have been selected by the Yamaha OAI to receive fiscal support for the purchase of our rapid response trailer.  This grant will allow PWORA to deliver important post fire recovery assets to public land recreation areas that have been damaged by intense wildfires or other natural disasters so that access can be restored in a timely manner.”

The primary objectives of this project are to provide a rapid response volunteer labor pool to respond to OHV areas devastated by wildfires, assist US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management with skilled volunteer labor to help quickly restore and reopen OHV areas devastated by wildfires, and support OHV recreation along with all forms of Outdoor recreation on public lands through volunteer labor efforts.

”This project on the Mendocino National Forest  is an excellent example of how local land managers and stewardship groups can deploy Yamaha OAI funds to help solve critical access challenges to public land,” said Steve Nessl  Yamaha’s motorsports marketing manager.  “Our support of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance ensures resources are available to assess trail damage and put a plan in place to restore them for public recreation.”

For more information about Yamaha’s Outdoor Access Initiative, go to:

https://www.yamahaoai.com/

PWORA is a national non-profit organization founded to protect and restore sustainable OHV recreation from the devastating effects of intense wildfires and other natural disasters. PWORA will collaborate with a diverse array of multi-interest strategic partners to mobilize volunteers and deploy resources to mitigate post-disaster impacts to recreation areas.  For more information on PWORA please visit our website: www.pwora.org

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Post-Fire Project to Protect Summit Valley Wildlife Area

Summit Valley Meadow

Grindstone Ranger District - Mendocino National Forest

The recent post and cable armoring project at Summit Valley is a great example of how non-profit partners and volunteers can bring much needed resources to assist the Forest Service in their long-term post-wildfire rehabilitation program.

Summit Valley is a beautiful meadow complex located on the east side of the Mendocino National Forest in California and the designated parking area has been a highly popular picnic stop for OHV enthusiasts.

    

Pre-Project View of Burned Post and Cable Barrier

Post-Project View of New Post and Cable Barrier

       

   
The 2018 Ranch Fire, part of the Mendocino Complex Fire, destroyed most of the post and cable delineators which prevented vehicle incursions into the sensitive meadow area.

Summit Valley Project Volunteers

On October 4-6, 2019, staff and volunteers from the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance (PWORA), Overland Bound, and the Forest Service removed burnt out posts and replaced them with new 6-inch round peeler cores.  Most of the existing cable was reused and restrung through the new posts.

Pre-Staging of Project Materials

Under Forest Service supervision, project leads used the Recreation Incident Command System (RICS) to help plan for and guide the volunteer work event.   Use of RICS and pre-event project evaluation and staging of materials led to a successful completion of the outlined task.

The Stonyford OHV Area on the Grindstone Ranger District is well known as a destination recreation area for sustainable motorized activities.  It also provides important motorized access to non-motorized recreation pursuits such as hiking, fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing.

Project Volunteer Cleaning Out Pre-Existing Post Hole 

for Placement of New Post

Post-wildfire recovery and rehabilitation of recreation sites that occur in a timely manner are key factors in the reopening process.  PWORA believes that non-profit partners will have an ever increasingly important role as a force multiplier in helping federal agencies with post natural disaster repair of roads, trails, and campgrounds.

The Summit Valley project also highlights the role that non-profit organizations have in reestablishing travel management structures that protect wildlife areas and/or cultural resources.

FS JOB OPENING - EQUIPMENT OPERATOR at STONYFORD

Dear PWORA Network,

I got this email today from the OHV Program at Stonyford about a job opening up to run equipment on the Grindstone Ranger District.  Feel free to share with your OHV network of heavy equipment operators who might be interested in helping maintain designated roads and trails at one of the agency's premier destination OHV areas.

Thanks for your review of the job announcement below!

Don Amador, President

PWORA

EMAIL BELOW FROM THE FOREST SERVICE

Vacancy announcement for Engineering Equipment Operator, WG-5716-08 position, is set to open 09/27/2019 and set to close 10/03/2019. The vacancy announcement number is 19-0508-10613572-DP-EA.  This position is located on the Mendocino National Forest in Stonyford, CA.

The position is established on a Forest unit in support of road systems and other program areas. Incumbent operates and maintains engineering equipment.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Sarah Chamberlin at 530-524-6598 or sridenourchamberlin@fs.fed.us

Applicants may apply electronically through USA Jobs at www.usajobs.gov

Applicants should review the announcement carefully and ensure that their application is complete and all required documents are filed on or before the closing date of 10/03/2019.  You may access the vacancy announcement(s) at the following link(s):

DEMO:   https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/547119700

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SITE STEWARDSHIP TRAINING – Sept. 28/29 in Clear Lake Area

Wildfires and other natural disasters can impact important cultural resources.   PWORA believes that OHV trail volunteers have an increasingly important non-fire related or post-wildfire recovery roles to play in assisting BLM and Forest Service Archeologists as site stewards to help protect/monitor cultural sites. 

Motorized trail volunteers have important skillsets as they are equipped to travel long distances and can access remote archeological sites under supervision by the BLM or Forest Archeologist. 

Chris Lloyd, the BLM Archaeologist at the Ukiah Field Office, has alerted PWORA that the BLM is hosting a 2-day heritage site stewardship class hosted within the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (BSMNM).  This class will be provided for people who are interested in becoming archaeological site monitors within the BSMNM and on other lands managed by the BLM, Ukiah Field Office. 

This opportunity will take place on Saturday, September 28th and Sunday, September 29th.  The event is hosted by the California Archaeological Site Stewardship Program  - CASSP - http://www.cassp.org/ - - and will take place at the UC Davis McLaughlin Reserve from 9-am to 4:30-pm (26775 Morgan Valley Rd, Lower Lake).  The first day will include presentations and discussions regarding local archaeology, safety, the law and archaeology, environmental responsibility, confidentiality, discussions about encountering the public in various situations where safety, environmental ethics, and respect for private property are discussed.   The second day consists of a field trip to practice site visit procedures and recording observations.

Our maximum class size is 25.  For those that are interested in participating please supply your name, phone number, and email address to BLM Archaeologist Christopher Lloyd.  His contact information is listed below.  Please RSVP only if you can attend both days and are interested in helping monitor cultural sites on federal lands (w/ a commitment of roughly once per month).  There is a $25 fee for participation which includes a Society for California Archaeology membership - https://scahome.org/ - as well as helps pay for materials.  For those that are interested in lessening their commute time for the next day, the McLaughlin Reserve has an established campground at $10 night.  There are also several hotels in and around the town of Clear Lake. 

RSVP Contact Information:

Christopher Lloyd, M.A.

BLM Archaeologist   

Phone: (707)468.4075

Email: crlloyd@blm.gov

As a site steward, I hope that some in the OHV community will take advantage of this opportunity for OHV to build our capacity to help federal agencies protect/monitor important cultural resources for future generations.

Don Amador, President/CEO

Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance

Email: Damador@pwora.org

Web: www.pwora.org

THANK YOU for Supporting Del Albright's Facebook Fundraiser for PWORA

THANK YOU - A big thanks to all of you who donated to Del Albright’s Birthday FB Fundraiser for PWORA!  PWORA received a $372.00 check from the Network for Good.  This is the organization that manages the charity fundraisers on FB.

PWORA Board Member and Volunteer Lead, Del Albright,

This is PWORA’s first FB fundraiser and it marks another milestone in our history as we continue to get agency agreements finalized and official training modules launched.

PWORA is also a registered charity at Amazon Smiles so feel free to list us as your charity of choice when you make Amazon purchases.

For those who want to make a tax-deductible online donation to help cover our ongoing start-up costs for insurance, communications, etc. you can donate at the PWORA website listed below:

PWORA Website

www.pwora.org

PWORA looks forward to working with our agency and non-agency partners and volunteers as we help recover and reopen recreation areas damaged by wildfires.

Sincerely,

Don Amador, President/CEO

Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance

Email: Damador@pwora.org

Website: www.pwora.org

NEWS RELEASE - WILDFIRE RECOVERY ORGANIZATION SUBMITS MASTER AGREEMENT TO FOREST SERVICE

Post-Fire Trail Repair and Equipment Training

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Don Amador, President

Phone: 925.783.1834

Email: damador@pwora.org

Date: August 9, 2019

WILDFIRE RECOVERY ORGANIZATION SUBMITS MASTER AGREEMENT TO FOREST SERVICE

     OAKLEY, CA (Aug. 9) – The Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance (PWORA) recently filed a draft Master Agreement application to the U. S. Forest Service Region 5 located in Vallejo, California.

     The final agreement will formalize a cooperative partnership between PWORA and the FS so that it can mobilize, train, and manage a workforce of specialists, consultants, volunteers, and youth conservation groups and deploy those resources to mitigate post-disaster impacts that occur on National Forest System roads, trails, and areas.

Dirt Bike-based Strike Teams to Clear Trails

     Recovery projects include but are not limited to, soil condition surveys, watershed trail management, BMP effectiveness storm monitoring, NEPA and CEQA draft environmental documents and specialists reports, Forest plan implementation, supplemental OHV fire recovery plans, cultural and heritage site protection implementation and monitoring, campground development or redevelopment, transportation analysis, trail maintenance, bridge and culvert design and installation,  travel management, multi-use designations, trail reroutes, trail design and layout, hazard tree abatement, fuel reduction or management of fuel loading, reforestation, grant writing, and project accomplishment reporting.

Installing Post Wildfire Travel Management Signs 

     PWORA will also offer certified training for both agency and non-agency personnel and volunteers in the following disciplines: MTDC Chainsaw Training Course, BASIC Training for the SUTTER 300/ 480/500 & SWECO 450/480 Trail Tractors, Excavators, Rubber Tracked Skid-Steer Loaders, Tracked Carriers, and Post Fire Trail Reconstruction for Wildland Fire Dozer Operators, ROHVA ROV/SxS Training, ASI ATV training, and MSF Dirt-Bike School instruction.

Use of No-Dig Trail Delineators and other Travel Management Prescriptions

    Don Amador, PWORA President, states, “Getting the Master Agreement finalized is our top priority so that PWORA can cooperate with the Forest Service on important post-wildfire recovery projects and to authorize us to provide critically important training opportunities for our contract trail crews, volunteers, and agency staff.”

     “PWORA looks forward to working with our civilian, agency, and industry partners as we grow both our professional and volunteer workforce to assist in recreation recovery efforts both during and after the wildfire or other natural disaster,” Amador concludes.

    Current members of the PWORA board are Del Albright, Don Amador, Jeff Blewett, Matson Breakey, Art Crofts, Cam Lockwood, and Eric Lueder.

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Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance (PWORA) is a national 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization founded to protect and restore sustainable OHV recreation from the devastating effects of intense wildfires and other natural disasters. PWORA will collaborate with a diverse array of multi-interest strategic partners to mobilize volunteers and deploy resources to mitigate post-disaster impacts to recreation areas.  You may contact PWORA president, Don Amador via email at: damador@pwora.org – Web: www.pwora.org

COW MOUNTAIN REOPENING CELEBRATION HIGHLIGHTS PRIVATE/PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP

Matt Mattison, 707 Trail Riders Founder, Speaks to Celebration Attendees

BLM Cow Mountain OHV Area - Ukiah Field Office

Over 60 trail volunteers, outdoor recreation enthusiasts, non-profit representatives, and agency leads participated in a public event to celebrate the timely reopening of the BLM’s Cow Mountain OHV Recreation Area on June 3, 2019. The event was held on July 27, 2019 at the Red Mountain Campground and Staging Area and was hosted by the 707 Trail Riders.

June 3, 2019 Official Reopening of Cow Mountain OHV Area

The free event was open to the general public and featured a number of post-wildfire recovery and trail education booths where attendees could visit with organization representatives and agency recreation leads from the BLM’s Ukiah Field Office and California State Office.

Visitors were also treated to a gourmet BBQ with all the fixings.  The celebratory feast was made possible by generous donations from the 707 Trail Riders, club partners, powersports dealerships, OHV aftermarket companies, and local businesses.

BLM Recreation Leads Sign in Volunteers for June 2019 Work Party

The grand finale was a free raffle where participates won some highly sought after prizes that were donated by a long list of OHV industry sponsors who wanted to express their gratitude to all those who volunteered their time on the post River Fire recovery efforts.

Don Amador, President of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance, states, “I believe the OHV community, agency, and partners have reason to celebrate the June 3, 2019 reopening of the Cow Mountain OHV Area after many months of post River Fire recovery efforts which included numerous meetings and work parties.”

Volunteers Install New Route Markers

“This celebration honors that substantive private/public collaboration and highlights the important role that clubs, volunteers, non-profits, grant partners, and federal disaster relief aid had in the delivery and implementation of post-fire mitigation efforts,” Amador continues.

Some of those post fire recovery efforts at Cow Mountain include the following:  installing trail delineators or barriers, replacing travel management or resource protection signs, cleaning or replacing culverts, repair/replace damaged campground infrastructure, recon/report damage to routes, bucking trees off of trails, felling hazard trees, brushing routes, repairing damage to trails from dozer lines or heavy water flows, and being a support for the local communities and agency staff impacted by catastrophic wildfires or other natural disasters.

“The OHV community can be proud of their response to the River Fire here at Cow Mountain.  It serves as an outstanding template for recovering OHV recreation areas damaged by intense wildfires,” Amador concludes.

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 Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance (PWORA) is a national 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization founded to protect and restore sustainable OHV recreation from the devastating effects of intense wildfires and other natural disasters. PWORA will collaborate with a diverse array of multi-interest strategic partners to mobilize volunteers and deploy resources to mitigate post-disaster impacts to recreation areas.  You may contact PWORA president, Don Amador via email at: damador@pwora.org