Earth Systems Science, Inc.

Second ESSI-EcoAcademy Manzanar PLC Trip A Success

Mar 26, 2005

Photos (c) 2005, ESSI. Top (left): EcoAcademy students clear foundations at the Chicken Ranch. Top (right): Chipping large branches in the historic orchard. Bottom (left): Ranger Sarah Bone gives students a career orientation to NPS. Bottom (right): Bob Clyde give students a GPS orientation.

The second ESSI-EcoAcademy Manzanar NHS Public Land Corps (Manz PLC) trip took place on 18 ?– 20 March 2005. The EcoAcademy is part of the LA Conservation Corps (LACC). The EcoAcademy teams include some LACC Clean & Green members, also a part of LACC. Greg and Saifon Lee led the ESSI team consisting of Jaime Aguilera, Alex Arboleda, Katie Bowser-Aquilera, Erika Rodriguez, and the ESSI mascot mini-ranger Andy Arboleda. Laura Grenholm, Felipe Campos, Christian D. Luna, and Petra Sanchez led the EcoAcademy / Clean & Green students: Vidal Castaneda, Erik Diaz, Evette Gonzalez, Yadissa Guevara, Karen Hernandez, Nicolas Higgenbotham, David Huerta, Hada Jessica Martinez, Rosha McKinney, Monica Powell, Jairo Ramirez, Alejandro Rodriguez, Roosyvelt Sandoval, Iris Ulloa.

Long-range forecasts kept alternative mild weather one moment, rain and cold the next. The night temperatures were still forecast in the 30?’s, so camping was not planned for this trip. The group departed Los Angeles Friday morning at 8:30 am under ominous gray skies. One of the EcoAcademy vans had a flat tire near the I-5 / Hwy 14 junction. The students were safely staged to a nearby Park and Ride parking lot while waiting for the van to be repaired. During the wait, students were asked to do a simple distance measurement by pacing exercise. This is a field method to estimate distances by knowing the number of steps you take to cover a measured 100-foot distance. Once the van was repaired, the trip north resumed after a suitable delay. The estimated arrival time changed from 1 pm to about 2 ?– 3 pm.

For the first part of the trip, the students had notes from an LA Geographical Society describing the route from the I-5 / Hwy 14 junction to the San Andreas Fault zone. ESSI 2-way radios were used to give the students additional information about the route of travel. They encountered rain for part of the 4-hour drive to Manzanar. The desert flowers were in bloom. Bright yellow carpets of flowers stretched over large patches of ground adding brilliant color to the landscape even under the overcast skies. The creamy white blossoms of the Joshua Trees were also evident. As they approached Lone Pine, the skies were gray, but not threatening rain. Snow still graced the peaks of the Sierras, Inyo, and White Mountains. Snow was falling on the upper eastern slopes of the Sierras, clearly visible from Manzanar.

Although the team arrived about 1 ?½ hours later than planned, they quickly got to work, eager to put in the planned 4-hours of service for Friday. The main task for the afternoon was weeding both sides of the entry road to Manzanar and clearing brush from the concrete foundations of the Chicken Ranch area (southwest corner of the residential camp area). Greg Lee and Laura Grenholm met with Superintendent Frank Hays to discuss the current PLC grant work and to make plans for the future. As a relative new National Park, there is much work to be done at Manzanar.

The team was lodged at the Dow Villa again. The hotel staff (Yolanda, Sylvia, and Christy) let us use a courtyard to set up our stoves for cooking. Saifon Lee, Jaime Aguilera and Katie Bowser-Aquilera started to prepare the dinner for the group. The menu consisted of wonton soup with Chinese greens and mushrooms; 2 kinds of sausages on buns, tossed salad, sliced fruit, and hot beverages. Superintendent Frank Hays stopped by briefly to see the ESSI support team and say hello to the group.

Saturday began with breakfast at the Dow Villa. ESSI team members were up early heating water for hot drinks and cereal served in the lobby. Muffins and fresh fruit rounded out the quick breakfast. It was chilly in the wind swept Owen Valley, but spirits lifted as the sun came out. This was our lucky day! ESSI team leaders Jaime and Katie left the motel ahead of the main group to contact and coordinate the morning activities with Bob Clyde, the youth program coordinator at Manzanar NHS. A few minutes later, the white EcoAcademy team vans left the Dow Villa northbound for Manzanar. The remainder of the ESSI team followed with the supplies to set up for lunch and dinner at the work site.

The group was given a tour of the Chicken Ranch area located just outside the SW corner of the residential camp area boundary fence. It is reached by a dirt road crossing Bair?’s Creek (about the only ?“natural?” area of the Manzanar NHS). Following the orientation, the teams split up. One tema continued the previous day?’s work at entry road and the other stayed to work in the Chicken Ranch area.

The recent rains produced an abundance of newly sprouted weeds. Since the entry road is the visitors?’ first sight of the park, keep this area clean is a priority. The students did the tedious weeding especially around the decorative bordering stonework. The weeds were then raked and shoveled into a pick up truck and hauled to the dump. Gerry Enes, a maintenance ranger, commented ?“I really appreciate the help. This is not the most exciting job, but the students really put their heart and backs into it. It saves me a lot of time that I can spend on other maintenance tasks.?”

Many of the students considered the Chicken Ranch one of the most beautiful areas they had seen at Manzanar. Some of the concrete foundations are terraced as the land gently slopes to the south facing the Alabama Hills. The recent rains produced a green carpet of grass between the rows of concrete foundations. But the weeds also grow in the cracks of the concrete foundations and lead to their deterioration. So the students had to clear the weeds, brush, and sand. The remains of an old brick chimney and grill, an occasional wooden pole with remnants of rusty chicken wire amidst the green grass and scattered trees were set against a background of the majestic snow covered Sierras. For many people (camp internees and more recent park visitors), the Sierras made Manzanar one of the more beautifully sited of all the relocation camps. Henry Fukuoka, a noted watercolorist and former camp internee, features Manzanar in many of his works.

Marvin Halloway, a local area resident approached Greg Lee and introduced himself with an interesting suggestion. Marvin wanted to explore the idea of introducing the students to woodcarving and describing the woodcarving activities of Manzanar internees. Apparently some camp internees carved wooden birds (some realistic and others abstract) while in the camp. A few weeks earlier, the park received a donation of some of these wooden carvings. An interpretive display is being planned for the donated carvings. Greg and Marvin brainstormed about various approaches to do this program and will discuss them with the Manzanar staff. Marvin then volunteered to pitch in with the ESSI-EcoAcademy work teams for the rest of the day.

About mid-morning, select volunteers were given safety training on the chipping machine. Larger branches in the historic orchard area needed to be cleared and reduced to wood chips as part of the fire fuel reduction effort. Some of the trees in the historic orchard are 100 years old and designated for protection and restoration. A major concern at Manzanar NHS is the possibility of a fire destroying these special trees. On the previous trip, the ESSI-EcoAcademy teams did work to clear smaller brush, branches, and dead leaves in the orchards. But the piles of larger branches needed to be cleared. Due to the hazardous nature of working with the chipping machine, people feeding the branches into the chipper need to be 18 years or older. So Bob Clyde gave chipper safety training to ESSI team members Alex Arboleda, Jaime Aguilera, and Katie Bowser-Aquilera along with Clean & Green team leader Felipe Campos, and EcoAcademy team members Christian Luna, and Eric Diaz.

Two potential volunteers, Christine Halperin and her friend Eric, recruited by Laura, drove up for the day to see the PLC teams in action. They spent the rest of the day working side by side with the students. They were both impressed with the project and the attitudes of the students. They are considering volunteering to help on future trips and to recruit more volunteers to help supervise youth teams.

While the teams were busy working outdoors, Saifon, Erika, Katie, and Greg handled the logistics of preparing the food for the day. The lunch was planned for indoors to give the teams a respite from the elements. Prior weather forecasts called for cold, windy, possibly rainy conditions. So the ESSI team planned for and prepared lunch in the Interpretive Center. Tables and chairs had to be set up, food prepared, along with hot and cold beverages. Greg also visited with the Manzanar NPS staff to get updates on projects, work / task needs, gather input and feedback on the group?’s overall performance, and to coordinate the career orientation activity for this trip.

After lunch, the teams were given an overall status review of the NPS staff feedback of their work. Overall, the ESSI-EcoAcademy team was praised for being one of the most productive community groups to work at Manzanar. The PLC grant is aimed at providing NPS units with help in catching up on backlogged maintenance items and as also serve as community outreach efforts. At Manzanar, the PLC plays a very important role of bringing culturally diverse urban youth to visit the park, help with maintenance work, provide job skills training, and career orientation. The ESSI-EcoAcademy collaboration also enhances the geographic and environmental education program for the students. Small wonder why the Manzanar NPS staff looks forward to each ESSI-EcoAcademy visit!

The students were also given a brief overview of the ?“behind the scenes?” activity necessary to support these trips. Greg Lee apologized for not being able to have the PLC stipend checks for the students as promised. (Note: Students are obligated to participate in 2 trips before receiving their stipend. Generally, the first trip is an orientation while the second trip is an opportunity for them to teach back what they learned. Paying the stipend after the second trip is intended to instill a commitment and responsibility to the group.) Delaying in the system of processing the papers and forms for reimbursement prevented ESSI from getting the NPS payment. The delay is beyond the control of ESSI. Greg emphasized that ESSI, and he personally, is very committed to a speedy payment process not only to keep the promise to the students. Greg and Saifon personally spend nearly $2000 in reimbursable expenses for each PLC trip. Any delay in NPS payment means he and Saifon bear the costs of the expenses on their personal accounts. Unfortunately, the delay in reimbursement for the January trip meant they had to expend another $2000 for the March trip, bringing their expenses to $4000 for the season.
Other behind the scenes efforts take place at EcoAcademy. Laura and Felipe have more than their share of paper work and coordination within the LACC system to schedule the use of vans, and time from their usual jobs for each trip. They have NO support staff to assist them. Laura was putting in 13-hour days for a week trip (with no overtime pay) to make the March trip happen.

And even at Manzanar NPS, Frank Hays devotes much time and added effort to make the PLC grant work to the mutual advantage of his park and the ESSI-EcoAcademy teams. There are many different forms and processes he must handle to conform to the myriad NPS and Federal Government regulations and policies. He and his staff value the ESSI PLC efforts so much that they make the added effort to make the PLC program happen at Manzanar.

Another unseen activity is the offices of Sports Spectacular, Inc., the fiduciary agent for ESSI and the PLC grant. This link is a vital legal and tax connection because ESSI is still in the process of apply for its non-profit tax status. Sports Spectacular Inc. is a well-established non-profit, and a member of the NPCA ?– LA Community Partners group---of which ESSI and LACC are members. [Note: As this article goes to press, we received word from Jim Hawkins, President of Sports Spectacular, Inc., that the first reimbursement payment has been received from NPS. So we anticipate reimbursements and stipends to be issued very soon! Yeah Team!] ?“This is such a wonderful and worthwhile youth program. I support it wholeheartedly and will do all I can to make sure everyone is paid promptly,?” said Hawkins.

The magic of the Manzanar PLC is made possible through the combined networking efforts of these groups who are committed to the ESSI Y.E.S. approach---Youth, Environment, Sustainability. The networking threads extend beyond Los Angeles and reach back to Washington, D.C. After all, today?’s PLC efforts found their seeds in the Los Angeles Community Partners (LACP), the local affiliate of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). All of the participating community groups in the current Manzanar PLC are LACP members. ESSI was born from the result of Greg Lee and Patrick McCullough meeting each other while working on the LACP Jr. Ranger Pilot Program. Today, the LACP lacks any real formal organization and has no meetings. But the effects of the NPCA-LACP are alive and well. [Note: After returning from this Manzanar trip, Greg Lee was contacted by Iantha Gantt-Wright (former NPCA Director of Enhancing Diversity) requesting an update on ESSI LACP related activities. Ianatha is currently organizing a national environmental conference and follows the ESSI LACP activities as an example of local community-youth environmental action and cultural diversity.]

After lunch, the work continued with both teams working to clear the fallen wood in the orchards. Work teams were organized to move the piles of wood from various points in the orchard to a staging area near the chipper. Due to high noise levels from the chipping machine, ear protection was needed. Safety zones were set up around the chipper. However, the best made plans of mice and men oft times go amiss. The harsh arid climate and infrequent use of the machinery is hard on the hydraulic seals. After about an hour, the chipper developed a hydraulic leak was shut down. Flexibility is an important trait in any job. True to form, the ESSI-EcoAcademy teams then divided the work tasks again. Some members went to help dump the chipped wood. Another group went to finish clearing the concrete foundations at the Chicken Ranch. (They completed this task by dusk.) The rest continued work in the orchard, but shifted the focus to gathering fallen wood and regrouping the piles for easier access for future chipping efforts. (Meanwhile, Fred Phillips, another maintenance ranger, would have to examine the machine next week. Hopefully it will be up and running for the next PLC trip.) The work continued until dinner when everyone reconvened at the Interpretive Center for spaghetti dinner with tossed salad, garlic bread, fresh fruit and hot beverages.

There was a mishap that evening when one of the students twisted his ankle coming down the steps of the Interpretive Center. It took a while to contact his parents for permission to get medical treatment. Fortunately it was not broken, but unfortunately it was the same ankle he injured a few weeks early in a sporting event. The student was taken to the emergency room of Southern Inyo County Hospital several blocks from the hotel. Luckily, a doctor and nursing staff was already on duty. (In smaller towns of this sparsely populated county, medical staff are often ?“on call?” and drive in to the hospital when the need arises.) The ESSI-EcoAcademy staff helped contact his parents via cell phone to get authorization for treatment and smooth the paper work with the emergency room staff. After a long evening at the hospital, with x-rays and emergency prescription medication, things got to settle down for the end of a very long day. The student slept comfortably and was able to get around on crutches for the rest of the trip (which fortunately, was mostly indoors).

Sunday morning began with the ESSI teams setting up for breakfast at the motel. Students were packed and ready to check out of the motel and departing for the work site. The plan of the day was to spend 1 hour weeding of the entry road (hopefully finishing this task). The ESSI support team was setting up for lunch and the rest of the program for the morning. Laura and Greg had divided the group into 4 teams. From 9 am - 11 am, the program shifted indoors. Each team would rotate through a series of ?½ hour activities: career orientation with Sarah Bone, an NPS Interpretive Ranger, GPS orientation with Bob Clyde, preparing their own lunch, and reviewing interpretive displays in the Center to prepare for student presentations about the Manzanar PLC to the other students at EcoAcademy. All ESSI programs incorporate career orientations for students to explore environmental job options.

Sarah Bone knew she wanted to be a Park Ranger since she was about 5 years old. So she set out on a path of study, volunteerism, and work that ultimately made her dream come true. Bob Clyde studied in college, joined the Student Conservation Association, and got an internship at Manzanar. That connection got him in the first Manzanar PLC GPS training class with ESSI in Nov 2003. He is currently serving on a second SCA internship at Manzanar and gave the students an orientation on GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. We are looking forward to a PLC opportunity to continue helping the Manzanar NHS staff on GPS surveys in the park. Laura requires the EcoAcademy students to give a presentation of their experience on the PLC program to the rest of the EcoAcademy. So students were given more time to review the interpretive displays to gather information. During the first trip, they saw the introductory video and toured the Interpretive Center. But Laura wanted them to spend time in the Interpretive Center again, especially after their work experience on site. When Interpretive Ranger Tim Mabes learned of this activity, he provided more written materials and reports to some of the students. During the rotation between the Career Orientation, Interpretive Center, and GPS orientation, students had the chance to build sandwiches and get fruit and snacks for their lunch. The scheduled return trip to Los Angeles meant an immediate departure and eating lunch on the way home.

The second ESSI-EcoAcademy Manzanar PLC trip ended with approximately 434 hours of service to the park---equivalent to 10.5 weeks work of a full-time employee! All concrete foundations of the Chicken Ranch were cleared of brush, weeds, and sand debris. About ?¾ of the entry road, on both sides, had been weeded. Chipping the fallen wood in the orchard began, but was halted due to equipment failure. But more fallen wood was picked up and stacked for easier access for chipping in the near future. Students got an orientation to NPS careers and to GPS technology. The integrated program of work, job readiness preparation and education continues. We will report on the ongoing efforts of the Manzanar PLC as they occur.

During this trip, ESSI staff picked up some interesting feedback from the EcoAcademy staff and students. All of the students in this program were ?“self-nominated?” and selected to participate by the EcoAcademy staff. So it was a privilege for them to be able to participate. The stipend was part of the draw as many students come from low-income urban families. But for many, the chance to get out of the city and to learn more outside the classroom were equally if not more important factors. Another frequent comment was the interaction of the students with the ESSI, EcoAcademy, and NPS staff. The students enjoyed being able to talk with the adults in the program. Even simple daily activities as meal preparation and clean up were valuable experiences. It is very encouraging to hear such feedback. The Manzanar NPS staff are very favorably impressed by how hard the EcoAcademy students work onsite. ?“We really appreciate you coming up here to help us?” are frequently spoken words from their lips.

There is a genuine sense of accomplishment, well-being, and accomplishment felt by the ESSI team. The ESSI team leaders are all drawn to the work for the love of being outdoors and helping others. Erika Rodriguez and Jaime Aguilera took Mr. Lee?’s Geography class and got involved. Alex Arboleda and Katie Bowser-Aguilera got drawn into the ESSI effort by their spouses. Saifon Lee (nee Suttisan) met Greg when he conducted a volunteer project in Thailand (1999-2000) and eventually ended up ?“joining?” ESSI as well. The time and effort of dedicated volunteers, seen and unseen, mentioned and unmentioned cannot be fully acknowledged or recognized. Their actions and deeds, no matter how slight or small, can be noticed by a student and burned into their memory, inspiring them to achieve what others see as impossible. Everyone in ESSI is here doing what we do because some one in our lives inspired us. We are simply trying to do the same good deed for others as it was done for us.