Obi Kaufmann is the author of The California Field Atlas (2017, #1 San Francisco Chronicle Best Seller), The State of Water: Understanding California’s Most Precious Natural Resource (2019),and The Forests of California: A California Field Atlas (2020), The Coasts of California (2022), and The Deserts of California (2023) all published by Heyday. When he is not backpacking, you can find the painter-poet at home in the East Bay, posting trail paintings at his handle @coyotethunder on Instagram.

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A similar scenario was played out many, many times over more than fifty years, as Herbert M. London dedicated his adult life to enhancing people’s lives by exposing them to the wild beauty of the Sierras. Herb’s life was centered around Rock Creek Pack station, Inyo County, and the Eastern Sierra. Those who thought he was “just a packer” found themselves in awe of this larger-than-life, complex, and very intelligent man with well thought out and frequently inflexible opinions.

As a advocate for wilderness, Herb was also adamant that there be use of the wilderness for all types of people: those who hike, and those who ride. In working with the Forest Service, he always emphasized the need to make Wilderness areas available to everyone who wanted to enjoy the natural beauty, Around the evening campfire, Herb was a story teller unequaled by any; he was funny, knowledgeable, and entertaining, especially when playing his guitar.

In honor to Herb’s life and legacy, Aleta London, Herb’s wife, suggested that the most fitting memorial to Herb would be to establish a trail maintenance fund on the Mono Pass Trail to honor his life. The Mono Pass Trail, particularly from Trail Lake to Golden Creek, needs extensive maintenance. 3FIA helped to collect donations to help fund the project.

Contributions to the 3-Forests Interpretive Association were passed on to the Sierra National Forest with the intent to spend the money on fixing those sections of trail that need heavy maintenance. The Forest Service will begin work on the project this summer utilizing their own trail crews and other agency resources that coordinate work within the Sierra National Forest.

The London Family will assist the Forest Service in identifying those sections of trail that are most in need of work. Craig London, Herb’s son, will provide guidance on how to construct trail that is hopefully going to last for generations and be a safe and enjoyable trail for hikers and riders that travel over Mono Pass.

There are over 60 years of letters written by Herb to the Sierra National Forest asking for more trail work and money to be spent fixing, building and maintaining trails in the National Forest. Through the years, many a District Ranger and Forest Supervisor on the Sierra National Forest have tried to get proper funding to get the work done. Unfortunately, money for new construction and maintaining the existing trails has been a low priority of Washington officials.

This Herb London Mono Pass Trail Fund will be a fitting memorial to Herb London. He was a permit holder for 64 years and in partnership with the Forest Service provided packing and outfitting service to generations of Americans. What better way to honor him than to repair water bars, fix dangerous rocky jump offs and gullied rock chutes?

Contact 3FIA to donate to the Mono Creek Memorial Trail Maintenance Fund.

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On Fire! is a play that explores the gritty heroics, the tragedies, and the triumphs of America’s wildland fire fighters. It also portrays the equally dramatic battles in the corridors of power — the wars that would come to determine how America’s wildlands will be managed. Playwright Rick Foster and the actors of the Duende Darma Group joined forces with the Forest Service, the Fire Safe Council, and 3FIA to present this timely drama to the public. On Fire! toured schools, camp grounds, and amphitheaters in the Stanislaus, Sequoia, and Sierra National Forest areas.

Forests and their inhabitants evolved hand in hand with fire. Some species came to depend on fire to complete their life cycles. Native Americans over the centuries, learned to manage their habitat with fire. In California fire was used to beautify the homeland, promote plant species needed for culture, improve hunting grounds, and in other well managed ways.

When Europeans came they used fire to clear land for agriculture and grazing. Settlers, and then railroads, brought countless new fire-starters to the land. Fire deforested vast tracts. Unmitigated clear-cutting wiped out stands of valuable trees and left the land to be invaded by thick brush and trees of no commercial value.

By 1900 the public had become aware of the need to conserve America’s forests. The practice of giving away land, or selling it cheaply to exploiters, came under criticism. The Conservation movement was born, not simply to preserve wilderness but to manage the wild land resources for sustainable yield.

Conservation got its pPresident in Theodore Roosevelt who in 1905 began to transfer hundreds of millions of acres out of the Department of the Interior and into the new Department of Agriculture’s new Forest Service. This led to an inter-agency war between the Conservationists and the money interests that feared the loss of many a quick fortune.

Fire became the battleground in this war of bureaucrats. Nature set the scene. A dry summer in the Northern Rockies led to catastrophic fires in August of 1910. Smoke from Idaho and Montana darkened the skies of East Coast cities, more than eighty people died. The Army was called in to help. Forest fires became front page news. Even as the war between the bureaucrats heated up the Forest emphasized that it alone could coordinate the fighting of forest fires on a national level. This led it to essentially declare war on all fire, and to adopt a policy of fire exclusion. This well-intentioned crusade had two fatal flaws, though they took two decades to become fully evident.

The first flaw lay in the fact that many species require woodland fire in order to propagate. For example, by the 1980s it was noted that in mature Sequoia groves there were no young sequoia. The under-story was taken over by other species. Only after careful prescribed burning did a new generation of baby giants spring up.

The second flaw was the inability of many forests to deal with th buildup of fuel without the appearance of periodic fires. Now, after decades of fire suppression, drought, and climate change, we have millions of acres waiting to explode in firestorms when the right weather conditions hit.

About 40 years ago federal agencies began to experiment with ways of letting – or helping – fire return to its natural role in the forests. There have been many roadblocks and setbacks. For a host of reasons it has not been possible to reduce the fuel loads to a point where experts feel that catastrophic fires will not continue to occur in force every summer.

Prescribed burning has its own problems. It creates air pollution and changing weather conditions can cause it to leap out of control. Mechanical thinning is extremely labor intensive and is currently considered prohibitively expensive except around valuable assets.

However it is done, an immense effort will be required to bring our forests into a condition of sustainable safety and health. A change of public consciousness will be required, similar to the change that brought the Conservation movement to a position of influence a century ago. By considering the history that brought us to this point, an informed public can better recognize the magnitude of the problem and develop a consensus as to how to best manage our forest for the future. 3FIA’s partnerships to develop and sponsor interpretive presentations that inform and entertain are a part of that endeavor.

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In 2012 130 junior high school students attended the 3rd Annual “MyForest” Summit The event was held at SCICON, the environmental education campus for Tulare County Office of Education. The “MyForest” Summit for 7th, 8th and 9th grade students was held over the weekend of National Public Lands Day. On this day, thousands of volunteers across the U.S. gather at national parks and forests, reservoirs, and other public areas to improve and enhance the resources. Adult and youth volunteers work with public land managers on projects to care for these special places where Americans go to enjoy the outdoors. Students participated in a variety of hands-on resource enhancement an stewardship projects.

It began after school on Friday with initiation games, career fair and an outdoor campfire program with entertainment. On Saturday morning teams of students performed volunteer work on public lands such as trail maintenance, river cleanup or wildlife enhancement projects. At noon everyone returned to campus and enjoyed an afternoon of outdoor recreation activities hosted by outdoor organizations showcasing their favorite outdoor activities. Activities included a climbing wall, fly fishing, mountain biking, stock packing, leave no trace camping, laser target shooting, and Dutch oven cooking.

In our increasingly plugged-in culture, the forest is one place where adults and kids can reconnect with the natural world. Projects like the My Forest Youth Summit benefit both the environment and those who are able to donate their time and effort. Special thanks to Back Country Horsemen of California – Sequoia area, Porterville Breakfast Lions, Tulare County Office of Education and Kings County Fire Fighters Association for their cash support and to the many volunteers who helped organize and put on the event. Thanks also to Kern River Outfitters, High Sierra Trail Crew, National Park Service, California State Parks, and California Land Management for handout and prize donations. Without the generosity of the contributors this unique youth outdoor event wouldn’t be possible.

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