Thank you Tom, Bill, Sean, and Lance for enabling this successful TRT private river trip dedicated to bringing back shade trees and sediment retention and recruitment along the banks of the mighty Tuolumne River.  I asked for qualified Tuolumne River guides.  You gave that and so much more.  Thank you for volunteering your time, skills, personal rafts and gear, patience, gas money, and the hard work to get baby trees situated for growth.

Thank you Alex for your tireless energy and skill to record interviews, videos and pictures through all aspects of this trip through the people who love the Tuolumne and why, plus the devastated riparian zones and human efforts to restore her.

Results

• Smooth runs through all rapids.  TRT said they felt safe in all of the rapids with our experienced guides.
• We planted 140 cuttings of Willow, Cottonwoods, and Maples, plus 4 bundles of Willow.  These native cuttings were sourced in the Tuolumne River watershed along the North Fork by TRT volunteers last January and February when dormant for the best chance of viability after planting.
• We planted 10 potted Maples + 9 potted Cottonwoods + 8 potted Oaks.  The potted plants have a high survival rate because of their established root system.  These babies were transported in their own cooler.
• The private nature of the trip with volunteer guides provided access to more campsites with more tree-planting time than TRT has experienced in the past.  When Lumsden Road washed out, the Forest Service River Ranger and Columbia College Programs were forced to close, eliminating all private access.  Therefore, any tree planting occurred if TRT staff could get a seat on a commercial trip with very little room for trees and no say in where to stop.  We were able to access the degraded river bars and campsites the commercial trips avoid.  We provided room for 120 large cuttings with several rebar (rebar is used to dig a hole in the water at river’s edge to get the cutting at least 1 foot into the sand,) several shovels, hammers, buckets, and a large cooler for the planted trees. We planted left of Clavey, Powerhouse, Indian, Grapevine, and Driftwood.

Thank you ARTA and AO

To put it simply, ARTA got us on the river and AO got us off the river.  This was not the original plan.  The Forest Service needs to approve every vehicle that goes down the South Fork Road.  TRT received that approval for their truck and said it could carry all our gear.  That same truck and an additional van would shuttle us back to our cars near put in.

I reached out to ARTA, AO, and OARS for advice on filling the missing pieces, especially a tow across Don Pedro Reservoir, and to coordinate camping spots and put in times (you absolutely do not want to meet a vehicle going the opposite way on the South Fork Road.)  All three companies would be on the river with a commercial trip ending on Tuesday, the day before no water Wednesday.  ARTA had a 3-day, OARS a 2-day, and AO a 1-day.  ARTA offered their guide house to meet Sunday evening because their guides would be on the river.  Xander also offered a free tow with their trip early Tuesday afternoon.  AO also offered a tow with a later meet time of 3:30 pm.  Everything we did those two days had this 3:30 pm meet time in mind because we could not slow down the commercial trip.

On Tuesday, we were able to meet Rowan and Kent with their small AO trip and hook up to their tow.  Rowan and Kent offered us available seats in their bus going back Casa Loma.  This allowed the FOR drivers to get their vehicles and transfer their gear once, and saved time waiting for TRT to show up with their truck and van.

Powerful Partnerships

This collaboration between the outfitters, commercial guides, FOR, and TRT, produced positive energy and credibility for all of us.  Guides from AO and OARS want to volunteer on our next restoration trip.  As Holly from TRT said, “we have mutual goals to protect, restore, and advocate for California Rivers, and we are stronger together.”  As the FOR Engagement Manager, I want to continue this positive energy and keep the Rafting Program strong and capable to support this type of collaboration and partnerships.

The intrinsic value of positive energy and collaboration is huge and long term and hard to represent financially, but with this partnership there were some real dollars saved for TRT.  TRT received a $16,000 Wild and Scenic grant from the River Network to do restoration work.  FOR and our river friends saved TRT over $3,000 ($1950 in guide cost + $300 put in + $300 tow + $260 under budget on food + $92 TRT Labor cost for shuttle.)