Words by Doug Morgan, Operations Manager
Each spring the Channel Islands Restoration crew head into the Los Angeles National Forest to treat invasive species on the western edge of the Sierra Pelonas just east of I-5. To the west is the inaccessible Sespe Condor Sanctuary and to the east it is just as rugged. A few miles north, the San Andreas fault bisects this path. There are a lot of challenges there and some of them are the actual work that our team is paid to do.
This route is the path of least resistance between the coast and the inland desert for everything; weather, animal migrations, electrical transmission lines, trucks and cars, oil and gas pipelines and the California Aqueduct.
In 1918, before the I5 bulldozed a path through the mountains, The Old Ridge Route Road, (ORR) was completed allowing early motorists to travel from Los Angeles to Bakersfield for the first time. The route became a popular day trip and soon fuel stations, roadhouses, and likely speakeasies could be found every few miles along the way. Now, the only evidence of this is some quiet ruins of historic buildings and one set of illusive tire tracks from a Model T Ford. Consequently, the Old Ridge Route Road is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. This is the route we take to many of our job sites.
In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, CIR was hired to meet the requirements of all the oversight organizations and quickly work up there. Despite a challenging scope of work to take on in the time we were asked, our safety, operations, finance, and executive teams together figured out a workable plan and importantly the field crew were ready to take it on. The nature of the work is categorized in the same list as First Responders which is why we were able to continue work as a crew. Some of the work such as the non native grasses removal is important for fire resiliency.
Soon we were driving the OOR and looking for turn-offs down some very gnarly dirt access roads to the numerous job sites. With extreme caution the CIR work trucks handled the terrain. Since carpooling was not possible in 2020 and 2021, trucks were needed for each crew member necessitating rentals. Logistical planning was hard work in and out of the field.
There are sixty-three, ‘anomalies’ along the path of the pipelines. This is the blanket term for pipeline repair locations. Some are quite small and others stretch over a mile in length. It is constantly amazing that they were able to build a pipeline in the steep mountainsides and across the huge canyons, and an engineering marvel to witness. Similarly the electrical pylons that bring solar and wind power from Tehachapi into Los Angeles. This 2022 season, CIR were often working alongside linesmen, repairing cables who came into work hanging from helicopters. Our crews waved respect and wished each other well.
CIR’s work is to eliminate the invasive weeds and allow the natives to repopulate in the repair locations. We spend as much time safely accessing the locations as we do working on them.
Even in the light of great human endeavor and achievement, the wild landscape of the ANF often makes the pylons and heavy iron pipelines look small. The work involves a high level of precision, an intimate knowledge of native plants at every stage of growth, and the physical stamina to walk extremely steep mountains in the high desert sun and mountain cold. In other words, this job was practically designed for us!
