Volunteer Wilderness Rangers (VWR) provide a number of critical volunteer activities in the back country areas of Los Padres National Forest. These include trail maintenance, patrols, repairs to structures, historic buildings and other equipment–whatever needs to be done that the Forest Service can’t.
For more information Contact:
Jasonn Beckstrand 805-284-1624 or jasonnb@lpforest.org
My first visits into the LP were in the middle 60′s with my father backpacking and fishing the upper Matilija, Twin Forks,Piedras Blancas. My father was on a fire suppression crew out of Cachuma Saddle station sometime after the war. His relatives manned various lookouts within the LP. I was taught well and have a knowledgeable understanding of the forest. I have traveled extensively through the entire LP. After Zaca I have not had the heart to venture back in. I imagine it will never be the same in my lifetime. That being said I need to participate again. Its my home range. How can I help.
My uncle was one of the early supervisors of the old South Mountain lookout. His daughter years
later became a lookout supervisor/manager of the same. I belong to a church that had a deacon
that cut the first trail to Ladybug Campsite from the saddle. His name was Bill Bowie and he was
not only a great trailblazer of the Los Padres, he was one of the greatest of the directors in the day
of the Boy Scouts of America and worked as a docent for the Ojai Museum for many years.
I have hiked over many of the trails of the backcountry and am kind of concerned. I don’t like
the graffiti I see on the rocks and other vandalism. I think it’s time to take back the backcountry
and secure it for future generations so they can enjoy and enhance the quality of life I and my
family were able to experience… in my day.