Impacted by
2016 Wildfires
Phelan, Calif.
– April 11, 2017 – Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, employees returned to the San Bernardino National
Forest on April 1st to volunteer their time in support of projects aiding the
fire-damaged Off Highway Vehicles (OHV) trails within the Baldy Mesa OHV area.
Working with members of the Southern California Mountains Foundation (SCMF) and
the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the effort continued a nearly ten-year tradition
of Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative volunteer projects in one of the nation’s
most frequently visited forests.
The popular Baldy Mesa OHV area and surrounding
trails have been closed since wildfires severely damaged the area last year. In an effort
to help reopen recreational opportunities as soon as possible, more than 60
volunteers, including Yamaha employees, their friends and family members,
contributed more than 300 hours of volunteer service. The day’s habitat
rehabilitation and erosion mitigation project included planting 300 locally
grown native plants, installing straw wattles on a steep slope, and slashing
and removing motorcycle tracks on non-designated trails.
“We had another great volunteer project with our
friends at the Southern California Mountains Foundation and U.S. Forest
Service, and our volunteers did some great work to help improve the local
off-road riding areas,” said Steve Nessl, Yamaha’s ATV/SxS group marketing
manager.
“Yamaha is dedicated to supporting sustainable
access to public lands like the San Bernardino National Forest. And we don’t
just say it – our employees, as well as their families and friends are
investing their personal time and sweat to support this mission, because they
believe it and live it.”
Yamaha volunteers have now participated in nine
restoration projects over the last ten years within the San Bernardino National
Forest. Past work includes projects in and around the Pinnacles, Cactus Flats,
Big Pine Flats, and Coxey Meadows areas, planting more than 4,000 native
seedlings and restoring and maintaining the OHV trails and trailheads.
“Yamaha Motor Corporation has been our partner for
the past decade and has helped us accomplish numerous restoration projects on
the San Bernardino National Forest. This project supports recent forest
development of new 50-inch trails in the Baldy Mesa area. Restoration and
maintenance are a large part of what it takes to make these projects possible.
Long term commitment to OHV land stewardship, education and safety through Yamaha’s
Access Initiative Program has helped us fulfill our mission of
educating people to recreate responsibly. Our program now provides over 20,000
volunteer hours annually to educate OHV enthusiasts to ride responsibly,” said
Stacy Gorin, executive director of the Southern California Mountains
Foundation.
For more information on how you or your
organization can help restore damaged forest lands please contact Juli Goss at
jgoss@mountainsfoundation.org.