June 2006 Volume 2 Issue 1 The Trailhead

A United States Forest Service News Update for The Desolation Wilderness Volunteer Program Desolation Facts: Desolation Volunteer Program: Year 3! • Total acreage of Desolation Wilderness the wilderness is Welcome back to the wilderness rangers over 63,960. Trailhead! This is the last year. Currently, 26 through education and news update devoted to people are contributing example so that the • 17 miles of the the Desolation Wilderness time and energy to the wilderness will be available for future Pacific Crest Trail Volunteer and Education program. generations to appreciate runs though the Program, which is rd What is the purpose of our and use. Our second Desolation. entering its 3 season in volunteer program? 2006. objective is to provide the • Elevation in Generally there are two public an opportunity to be Desolation ranges This year we’ve doubled objectives: Our first is to involved in management preserve and protect the from about 6,500 the number of volunteer (continued on pg. 2) to 9,983 feet on Pyramid Peak. Aldo Leopold National Stewardship Award National Award Highlights Efforts of All Involved in Desolation Management National In recognition of outstanding contributed significant restoration projects that Wilderness Facts: management efforts on the time and energy in have reduced impacts • California has Desolation Wilderness, providing quality associated with recreation almost one-fifth of Forest Service Chief Dale wilderness information at use were also cited as a the acreage of the Bosworth announced in both front desk and in the reason for the award. federal National April that the 2006 Aldo field. The volunteer Other reasons cited for Wilderness Leopold National program has had an the award included a Preservation Stewardship Award would emphasis on education strong use management System (NWPS) go to the Lake Tahoe Basin and LNT philosophy program with permit and Management Unit and communicated through • In 2006 the NWPS quota systems, group size Eldorado National Forest. such programs as the totals 106,619,208 limits and campfire The award will be Wilderness Education acres restrictions, all aimed at celebrated throughout the Tour, or W.E.T. preserving the wilderness 2006 season at visitor • The Forest Service In addition, several resource and character. manages 30% of centers and trailheads. federal lands and 32% of NWPS A diverse set of projects, acreage. programs, and priorities involved in caring for the Desolation Wilderness resulted in the award. Jen Ebert, Assistant Resource Officer on Pacific Ranger Newsletter Contents: District is quick to point out that credit for the award Meet FS staff 2 should go to a broad Desolation history 3 collection of people involved in managing Desolation. Volunteer profile 4 Ebert notes that this Statistics 6 includes the efforts of volunteers, who over the One last taste of winter was in store for volunteers on the year’s past 3 seasons have first training day on Memorial Day weekend. Gwyn Ingram Photo The Trailhead Page 2 of 6 “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that Desolation Volunteers: Year 3 (continued from pg. 1) will endure as long as life lasts.” of their public lands so naturalist, collecting respective “sides” of the they can provide a information related to our Desolation. Brent Rachel Carson valuable service to their monitoring programs, and Carpenter has stepped community. Additional finally, providing into the position of goals are to increase the wilderness information at volunteer coordinator in presence of the Forest a number of public service addition to his wilderness “I am glad I shall never Service in the wilderness sites on both sides of the ranger patrol duties in be young without wild area and to maintain and Desolation. Desolation. David Rolloff places to be young in. improve the agency’s is working as the Founders of the volunteer Of what avail are 40 service to the public. wilderness education program, Jennifer Ebert of freedoms without a coordinator. Both Brent Volunteers can be Eldorado National Forest blank spot on the map?” and David are involved in involved in any of the four and Suzy Lancaster of the day to day work of the Aldo Leopold duties of our program, Lake Tahoe Basin volunteer program. Read A Sand County Almanac including serving as Management Unit, both more about the four wilderness ranger patrols, continue to head up the Forest Service staff being a trailhead program from their members below. Forest Service Staff – Desolation Wilderness Volunteer Program

Suzy Lancaster. In her 8th season of work in the Desolation Wilderness, Suzy currently serves as the Wilderness and Dispersed Recreation Manager for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Suzy is a graduate of Humboldt State University with a degree in Natural Resource Interpretation. In 2002 Suzy made a first effort at developing a volunteer program who worked in Desolation with a group of 8 volunteers from the Tahoe area. A year later, Suzy co- founded our current volunteer ranger program with Jen Ebert. Suzy is married and has a 9-month old girl named Madelyn.

Jennifer Ebert. Serving as Assistant Resource Officer and trained as a wildlife biologist, Jen has been on Pacific Ranger District 9 years. She co-founded the volunteer program and has become increasingly involved in resource management within Desolation including numerous restoration and monitoring projects. Jen has also expanded into a broader wilderness management role with educational programs and multiple resource management efforts (e.g. fire use, resource monitoring). Jen has a degree in wildlife management from Humboldt State University. She and her husband Jeff have a daughter, Emily, who is 3 years old.

Brent Carpenter. In his 4th season serving as a wilderness ranger in the Desolation Wilderness, Brent has taken on the role as the volunteer coordinator for the program as part of his job. Brent lives in El Dorado Hills and enjoys getting out on the national forest year-around. He particularly enjoys getting out backcountry skiing in the winter (including volunteering with the El Dorado Nordic Ski Patrol). Brent is married and has 2 children, ages 14 and 12, who also go backpacking with him. Brent enjoys working in a place that he loves and says that one of the best parts of the job is meeting people with a passion for Wilderness.

David Rolloff. Having worked previously on the campsite monitoring effort in Desolation, David has expanded his involvement this year on the volunteer program as Wilderness Education Coordinator, and is working on information outreach programs (LNT ranger talks, newsletters, etc). A former wilderness ranger himself, David is a professor of outdoor recreation resource management at Sacramento State in the Recreation & Leisure Studies Dept. One of his proudest accomplishments is having 6 students working as part of the developed recreation staff in the Crystal Basin this year. The Trailhead Page 3 of 6

Desolation Lake Names: Where did they come from? By William J. Finch, Wilderness Volunteer Ranger

decided the lakes should have able to pronounce all the Indian sounding names. To letters of the word it should accomplish this, they decided to have been named. The lake is create a lake name by named for a Forest Service combining the first two letters employee in the late 1920’s from the first and last names of who had a grandson who the members of the MPFPC. wanted to name the lake For example, Ropi Lake is “Grandpa Lake” but when he named after Ross Pierce—RO- tried to pronounce “grandpa,” it Before I became a Wilderness PI. came out “umpa,” hence the Volunteer, I started to research current name! Desolation Wilderness to learn all Other lake names have the I could about this marvelous following origins: Gefo Lake – More on Desolation place names resource. I wanted to be able to (George Foss), Frata Lake – in the next issue of The Trailhead. field any questions that would (Frank Talbot), Jabu – (Jack come my way from people I Butler), Toem Lake – (Tom In his second year as a volunteer in would come in contact with on Emory), Waca Lake – (Walter Desolation, Bill Finch is a former faculty member in the Dept. of the trail. As I poured through Campbell). Another lake, called guide books, Forest Service Recreation & Leisure Studies at Osma Lake, is believed to have Sacramento State. He has been a material, and the internet, I was been named after Oswald Navy intelligence officer, an Army struck by the peculiar looking and Maybeck, although not all Paratrooper, and a Boy Scout leader . Bill has also traveled widely in the sounding names for some of the sources are certain about this. lakes in the area of the California backcountry. wilderness located roughly south Another lake with an Indian References: of Lake Aloha. sounding name is Umpa Lake. Yesavage, Jerome (1994). Desolation However, this lake name is not Wilderness. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. My research began to yield from the combining of letters results as I looked for information but from someone not being http://home.earthlink.net/~lzmaps/id8.html on lakes such as Ropi, Jabu, Waca, and others. I learned that in the 1920’s a group of men formed what they called the Mount Ralston Fish Planting Club (the MPFPC) for the purpose of stocking the lakes in the Devil’s Valley of the newly formed Eldorado National Forest. Later, this area would become the Desolation Valley Primitive Area when given protection status in 1931.

Since most of the lakes the MPFPC stocked were unnamed, they decided to name the ones they were stocking, and after lengthy discussion they Tyler Lake Sunset. Photo: Brent Carpenter The Trailhead Page 4 of 6 Volunteer Profile: Tim Longo Job opportunity in the Bay Area doesn’t keep Tim from getting back to Desolation.

Those of you who have been no programs to speak of.” He around the last few seasons continued, “Though they don’t may have seen Tim Longo remember, I'm sure I actually change hats a few times, which hounded the Pacific Ranger is why we thought we’d feature District staff a few times about him in this first “Volunteer volunteering for them but there Profile” column. was just no way to support my desires at the time.” Finally, Tim has been involved in the Tim’s interests were satisfied volunteer program for three with the creation of the current years, and it was during his volunteer and education first year that he became a Tim Longo served as volunteer program. coordinator during the 2005 season Leave No Trace Trainer after in Desolation Wilderness. attending Brent Pettey's course Volunteering his first year, Tim in Stanislaus National Forest. explains, “I traveled from departure of the first volunteer (Brent has coordinated a large Sausalito where I lived at the coordinator left the position volunteer program on the time while working in the video open, and Tim got the job. It Stanislaus for a number of games industry. Though I was, he recalls, “Probably one years). didn't get to Desolation as of the best summers of my much as I wanted to that first life,” explaining further, “I Tim explains that he has hiked year, I did go to the LNT developed the Wilderness in Desolation most of his life. training and the Wilderness Education Tour (or W.E.T.) He was raised in the Coloma Rendezvous as a volunteer.” among a few other programs and Placerville area and However, he also explained “I and helped manage around 15 vacationed in Tahoe for many was looking for a change from volunteers.” years. Tim recalls, “I had my job at that time and talked always wanted to get involved to Jen Ebert & Suzy Lancaster The creative life called Tim with Desolation in a more about a Forest Service staff back this past winter when a official capacity but there were position with Wilderness.” The good friend convinced him to return to the video game industry in the Bay Area. “My family and I now live on the coast in Half Moon Bay” Tim reports, “And I’m back to volunteer status and loving it.” Responding to changing hats from volunteer to Forest Service staff member and back to volunteer, he observes, “There is something you get from being a volunteer that you will never get as an employee of the Forest Service.” Tim also reports that Leave No Trace has become “a bit of an obsession” so he’ll continue being involved in the Students from Sacramento State measuring barren core size as part of the stewardship of his home campsite monitoring effort at Maud Lake in Desolation. Photo: David Rolloff wilderness for a long time to come. The Trailhead Page 5 of 6

Desolation…an extraordinary wilderness By Don Lane

Acre for acre, the religious themes that credit, they simply waited Desolation Wilderness is anything “wild” or “barren” until victory was declared one of the most heavily was also a place where and the hikers returned to used wilderness areas in nature could be the mountains. Slowly at first the nation. Receiving over intimidating or even they came. There were 120,000 visitors a year, threatening….a desolate 3,600 people a season in the the Desolation has place. early 1960’s, and within a become a portal for those decade there were intrepid or simply curious In America’s earliest days, approaching a thousand spirits that seek to journey most other wilderness and people a day during peak over the granite trails into park areas also were summer months! In recent the Sierra Nevada, to seek viewed with the same years, Emerald Bay out its wild heart, or caution: wild areas that Trailhead alone has been perhaps just to enjoy a should be conquered or used by over 36,000 people. Early summer evening in the short hike to explore a valued for their resources Desolation. Photo: Brent Carpenter near-by lake or waterfall. and not for their wondrous The Desolation today is a scenery. Even in places wilderness trying to stay wild, Easy accessibility and like Yosemite, park a place where nature location near major urban rangers resorted to tossing dominates and not mankind. We simply need wild areas have contributed to live chickens over Glacier Thanks to the dedication of country available to us, the allure of Desolation Point just to attract and the wilderness volunteers that is only expected to entertain summer visitors. and the rangers, it is not a even if we never do grow as populations But over time, it too was to barren or lifeless place that more than drive to its increase over the next be recognized as a scenic will ever be known again as edge and look in. For it decades. But it hasn’t treasure. the “Devil’s Basin” but can be a means of always been that way for instead will serve as a refuge reassuring ourselves of Desolation or for other Desolation, although it from civilization as wilderness areas, as wild became a designated envisioned by those our sanity as creatures, places were once avoided. primitive area in 1931, at impassioned dreamers, a part of the geography They were seen as being first only received a Thoreau, Muir, Marshall and of hope. both desolate and reported 35 visitors a Leopold. Wallace Stegner, foreboding: a place where week. During the war the Devil lived. In fact the years of the 1940’s Wilderness Letter 1961 great Aloha Lakes basin because of tire and gas was once known as the rationing, only a dozen “Devil’s Basin.” The people a week were glacially scoured region observed entering the contained lakes that until Desolation. Rangers the dawn of the 20th during these years may Century, were called well have been tempted to “Devils Lake,” and “Pit find a few live chickens Lake.” By the 1890’s, the and toss them over the top same land area was also of Mt. Tallac to try to stir christened as the up some interest and “Desolation Valley,” some visitors for the reflecting the prevailing backcountry, but to their

Don Lane has been working in or with Desolation Wilderness since 1974. He has been a Wilderness Ranger, Wilderness Manager and is now the Supervisory Recreation Forester in Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit for the USFS. Don is also a published Lake Tahoe historian. Another day at “the office.” Wilderness rangers enjoy a sunny early season day in Desolation. Photo: Brent Carpenter The Trailhead Page 6 of 6 Desolation Wilderness U.S. Forest Service Volunteers by the Numbers: Some figures from last year Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit How busy were the 35 College Drive -Record for trash -Volunteer at a South Lk. Tahoe, CA 96150 volunteers in 2005? Here carried out at once: major incident: 1 Phone: (530) 543-2600 are some numbers from 90 lbs. last year’s volunteer effort: -Dogs rescued: 1 Pacific Ranger District -Monitoring trips: Eldorado National Forest -Number of -Volunteers: 13 countless 7887 Hwy 50 volunteers who Pollock Pines, CA 95726 -Hours: 1,011 Phone: (530) 647-5415 -Visitor contacts: have come back countless in 2006: 9 Trailhead Editor: David Rolloff PROGRAM E-MAILS: [email protected] [email protected]

WEB: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of the individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact: USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720- 2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720- 6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider Volunteer Francisco Diaz of Sacramento contacting wilderness visitors near and employer. Horsetail Falls on his first day in the field. Photo: David Rolloff

Pacific Ranger District Desolation Wilderness Volunteer Program Eldorado National Forest 7887 Hwy 50 Pollock Pines, CA 95726