Station Fire volunteers

We all benefit from the beautiful Angeles National Forest, and the natural habitat covering our local mountains, which surround our Sunland Tujunga community. Many of us want to do something to help nature recover after the devastating Station Firestorm of 2009 ,right in our backyard. To really help and learn about our local wild natives, I can highly recommend to my Sunland/Tujunga neighbors they volunteer with the ANF, restoring select local forest habitat areas that burned in the Station Firestorm. Non-profits, community groups, Neighbors and kids will best volunteer their time LOCALLY, and here, now is a perfect opportunity with the USFS Angeles National Forest. They may be contacted on the web here; http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/angeles/ . Volunteering, and working with the forest service in our nearby Station fire habitat restoration areas is a very effective, rewarding and educational use of your charitable time. The forest service uses site specific methods, (ANF experts and plant nurseries are using the very best local plant genetic diversity and evolutionary biological methodology). Volunteer hours spent with them is the best way you can learn the science with the hands on, local field experience, enjoy native plants in the wild, and actually do some good for our local nature. Learn "hands on" from the experts, how to best select, propagate and cultivate our beautiful, local native plants for your yard! You will help; Gather seed from VERY local plant genomes. Propagate local seeds for local re-vegetation use. Plant and care for the appropriate seedlings in select burned areas. The Forest Service invites volunteers, partners and others to help the forest with its natural resource conservation needs. If individuals or groups are interested in joining the efforts please visit the ANF website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/angeles/ . Ricky Grubb, Naturalist and Photographer

Big Tujunga Wash in Sunland area, City of Los Angeles. Critical Habitat for the recovery of the endangered Arroyo Toad. Important wildlife corridor. Rare upolluted local water source. Rim of the Valley Trail route.

Puma track photo taken in Big Tujunga Wash community of Sunland City of Los Angeles Ca. near residences encroaching into Tujunga wash wildlife migration corridor. Big Tujunga Wash is home to many resident endangered and threatened species as well such as the Arroyo Toad, the Slender Horned Spineflower, Arroyo Chub etcetera. The Big Tujunga River in our community was proposed, and designated as critical Habitat for the recovery of the Arroyo Toad, only to be stripped of the designation by a political hack appointee of the Bush//Cheney administration. This is currently undergoing review by the US FWS in response to a lawsuit filed by the center for biological diversity, who deserve our sincere thanks for standing up for nature on many fronts.

Thanks CBD! Ricky Grubb, environmentalrep@stnc.org .