Tara Stone's blog

Mills Peak Extension Project

SBTS is getting ever closer to making the Mills Peak Trail Extension Project become a reality. SBTS is working in Partnership with the Plumas Forest, Beckwourth Ranger District, in hopes of extending the Mills Peak Trail (which now stands at 7 miles) to include an estimated 6 miles of singletrack.  see map

We are working on raising the $10,300 in estimated funds needed to complete the NEPA. We need your help to make this happen. DONATE NOW!

Our goal is to have the NEPA completed and construction started this fall!

PSREC of Plumas County has offered to match the first $1500 in donations.

We've had some amazing donations from our supporters, partners and sponsors. THANK YOU for helping us make this happen! 

PLEASE HELP US IMPROVE THIS ALREADY AMAZING TRAIL!

Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship is now accepting applications for our summer program ~ Storrie Student Crew

STUDENT TRAIL CREW JUNE 24TH – JULY 27^TH

Orientation May 11-12th

FOR APPLICATION: CLICK HERE

STUDENT TRAIL CREW DETAILS:

SBTS will hire a total of 8 students from Chester, Greenville, Quincy, Oroville and Portola area High Schools, Ages 16-17 (ideally Sophomore of Junior level), for a summer trail work program on the Pacific Crest Trail in the Plumas National Forest.

Members will be supervised by 2- adult Crew Leaders that are familiar with the work area, are experts in trail restoration, and are well rehearsed in backcountry safety. Members will live in tents, and cook their own meals. Food and transportation will be provided.

AVAILABLE CERTIFICATIONS

• Basic Trail Maintenance Certification

• Hand Tool Maintenance Certification

• Cross Cut/Hand Saw Certification

• Griphoist Certification

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assist in the Development of an Emergency Action Plan  Read More »

Another successful Learning Landscape completed by the SBTS trail crew and Feather River Land Trust!

The Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship crew met with Rob Wade of the feather River Land Trust on Thursday the 7th at the Quincy High School to discuss the plan for the Q Trail. SBTS director, Greg had already laid out the route for the trail and it was approved, so we had a brief discussion with Rob then got to work. We spent the day cutting out the trail corridor and clearing the brush. On Friday first thing in the morning we got our mini excavator to the trail and proceeded to dig with it. We ran the tractor for about five minutes then we busted a hose that was in the engine compartment coming directly off of the hydraulic pump. The hose busted due to poor routing, it had been rubbing on a metal edge for a long time in a spot that was difficult to see. It took a bit of running around but we found the parts and got the tractor digging Monday morning. We worked Saturday and Sunday because there was work to do with our motorized rock hammer near the class rooms, its very loud work so we avoided it while class was in session.  Read More »

Public Comment is open, please sign this letter of support! 

We need your help NOW!

The Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship is gathering letters of support to enable us to work on the Mt Hough/South Park Proposed Trail System in Quincy, California. Please help us by taking a moment to fill out and sign this letter of support. This letter once submitted, goes to the Gretchen Jehle at the Mt Hough Ranger District, Plumas National Forest.  Read More »

Here are a few upcoming Plumas county happenings ~

March 17th check out the Longboard Races held at Plumas Eureka State Park, just above Johnsville. It's free and fun for the whole family!

March 2nd, Eastern Plumas Recreation District and Plumas Ski Club are putting on their 20th annual Snowball. Proceeds for this event, go to reopening the Johnsville Ski Hill.  More info HERE!

The Long Trail We Are All Building.

Friends and family, we welcome you all into 2013. The Mayan 13^th b’ak’tun ended without incident, and we slipped into another year on of the Julian calendar unscathed. Here at the stewardship, we’ve had some time to reflect on the past year, as well as stare up at the mountain of work we’re creating for the next few years. It has been a wild ride so far.

By the numbers, here’s what 2012 looked like:

- Volunteer support (this means you!): 17 volunteer trail days, totaling 2042 volunteer labor hours

- Local economy: SBTS was accountable for 21 local jobs, with an annual payroll of $425,000

- Local community: We partnered with Feather River Land Trust and Plumas Unified School District to construct our 6^th Learning Landscape Trail, this time on the Quincy Elementary School campus.  Read More »

Smith Lake Trail Bridge

The Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship first started on this job by preparing a landing site for the helicopter to drop the bridge materials. The two man crew went into the jobsite and located the most practical location to stage the materials. We had to drop two trees to make enough room. We cut the trees into ten foot lengths and placed them so the bridge lumber could be landed on logs instead of being dropped on rock possibly causing damage. We flagged the location and marked it on GPS for the helicopter to drop accordingly. On July 20^th the helicopter was scheduled to transport materials from the Gold Lake staging area to the jobsite on Smith Creek. This was an exciting day for everyone involved since most of us had never worked around a helicopter before. We had three people at the landing site and two people helping with the hookup. The pilot and his crew gave us a quick rundown on how thing were going to work then the first load was in the air. I was on the landing side of things where we simply unhooked the loads once they were all the way on the ground. Everything went very smooth, the gluelams and the mud sills were perfectly placed on logs which prevented any damage and will make things easer when it is time to move them.

 Read More »

REI on the Downieville Front Side Trails,  Plus a $15,000 Grant award!!

Some 30 volunteers from REI, one of our partners in recreation and trail preservation sacrificed their Saturday to come toil in the dirt on some of Downieville’s best known trails.  These included Sunrise, Paulie Creek, and First Divide.  Pictured above is the high country crew who worked on Sunrise Trail.  We spent some time getting familiar with some trail design considerations, and examined some real world examples of the design elements found on Sunrise Trail.  The hard working crew removed braking bumps and some encroaching vegetation, obliterated some rogue trail lines, and cut out some root and stump remnants.  The Crew on Paulie Creek Trail did some rock work to repair damage wrought by this winter’s heavy rains and cut back countless face slapping branches.  The last of the crews worked on lower First Divide Trail buffing out to perfection.  One of the first riders to sample the fruits of their efforts, said that section of trail looked like someone had taken a vacuum cleaner to it.

 Read More »

We had over 30 fun loving volunteers from all over come to Downieville this past weekend. A large group of these volunteers were from the Sacramento area REI stores. REI and Hoppy Brewery sponsored this trail daze event and along with the volunteers, helped make it a huge success! 

Volunteers were sent out to 5 projects all focusing on the course clean up for the Downieville Classic. Thank you to all those who came out with us and enjoyed the sunshine and digging in the dirt! 

We are looking forward to another great weekend August 1st-5th at the Downieville Classic. There are a few spots still left in the cross-country category, register now!