From Larry Freilich, Inyo County Water Dept.

The California Natural Resources Agency will be coming out to Lone Pine on June 21 for a site visit to tour the Owens River Water Trail project. We are grant finalists under its River Parkways grant program. The grant would provide $500,000 to help establish the first designated paddle trail in the western U.S., if they like what they see.

Pretty exciting!

As part of the project tour we want to 1) get the Resources staff on the water to experience this amazing stretch of water, and 2) demonstrate that volunteer stewardship can help build and maintain the project.

To accomplish both objectives the County and the conservation group Friends of the Inyo are organizing two work weekends to open up a sample section of trail. Trail building weekends are June 11-12 and June 18-19.

We need all the assistance we can get.

It is especially helpful if we can demonstrate that out-of-area paddlers will come up to not only use the new paddle trail, but they will come up to help build and maintain the trail.

Building trail is almost as fun as using it. It’s an unforgettable experience, and participants can say that they were instrumental in helping to establish the first river paddle trail in California and the west.

If you’re interested, please contact me at lfreilich@inyocounty.us; 760-878-0001, for information and to sign up.