Sedona Friends of the Forest

by Helen Campbell, Ambassador at Large

Sedona, Arizona, was selected as the most beautiful place in America by USA WEEKEND (a weekly supplement to major newspapers across the United States) and is home to the Red Rock Ranger District of the Coconino Forest. The Sedona Chamber of Commerce said that 4 million visitors view this magnificent landscape annually. The Forest Service estimates perhaps half the visitors recreate on the 293 miles (and growing) of system trails that wind their way through three Wildernesses and more than a half million acres of drop-dead gorgeous red rock country. The greater Sedona area is home to a population of an estimated 20,000 citizens who treasure the awe-inspiring landscape that is their backyard. Verdant pinon, juniper, and ponderosa forests stand in wondrous contrast to the ever-changing colors of immense red buttes with thought-provoking names such as Cathedral Rock, Cockscomb, Courthouse Butte, Elephant Rock, and Bell Rock.

Sedona is progressive and forward thinking and in 1994 formed The Sedona Academy as a vehicle to bring together, in the annual Sedona Forum, a broad cross section of local citizens to consider various issues and concerns facing the community. Participants are individuals and do not represent any group, business, or organization. The topic of the 1994 forum was “Building Partnerships with the Forest Service.”

Friends of the Forest, Inc., “Lending a Hand,” a non-profit organization, incorporated in Arizona, is a result of that 1994 forum. Since its inception a decade plus 1 year ago, the Friends of the Forest’s contributions to the Red Rock Ranger District have steadily grown. We are an organization that staunchly maintains our non-political status.

New members of the Friends learn the trails and procedures for the Trail Patrol Committee on a Sunday Learning Hike, led by old-timers Gene and Darl Rector.

According to USDA Forest Service District Ranger Ken Anderson, “The National Forest would not be what it is without the Friends of the Forest. In our case many, many things would not be the same without them.” The Friends do the job rather than talk about it and are dedicated to the Forest Service mission—Caring for the Land and Serving the People. The Friends work in amazing ways to assist the Forest Service complete tasks it does not have the money or the work force to complete on its own. In 1974, District Ranger Ken Anderson supported the concept of volunteerism 217%. He recognized that partnerships and volunteers are a major priority and understood the need for a full-time volunteer coordinator. He and his staff set the priorities and the process began. From a few volunteers, Friends of the Forest membership has sprouted to 330, with approximately a third of the membership able to volunteer hours. From humble beginnings to statistics that impress, Friends of the Forest is a homegrown organization that serves as a role model across our country. We lend time, talent, and our hearts to protect Sedona’s rich environmental and cultural heritage.

In 2005, 98 Friends of the Forest volunteers gave the Red Rock District 21,074 hours!
To put that into another perspective that equates to 10 full-time, GS-5 Forest Service Technicians.
In addition to work hours, the Friends, with assistance from the National Forest Foundation (NFF),
funded nearly $15,000 worth of projects in the fiscal year ending in October 2005.

The Cultural Resources committee’s primary focus is protection of the Palatki, Red Cliffs, and V-Bar-V archaeological sites. The public and the Forest Service benefit from the thousands of hours the Friends spend as docents, interpreting the ruin and rock art sites. They supply approximately 40% of the people hours provided. The experience for the visitor has increased exponentially, and a reservation system developed and implemented by the Friends has allowed the Forest Service to keep Palatki open every day. Without the Friends of the Forest, the Forest Service would have two choices, drastically limit the number of days the sites can be open or not provide protection. The latter being a totally unacceptable option for the Forest Service, Friends, and the majority of the public.

One of the most popular committees is Trail Patrol. For most of us, we moved to Sedona to hike! When we hike, we are the eyes and ears for the Forest Service, providing valuable information through monthly written reports. Our Volunteer vests alert the public that we are there to answer questions and assist in any way we can to make their experience safe and rewarding. We never miss an opportunity to talk about staying on the trail, Leave No Trace, and being prepared. We bring out any trash we find, carry out minor shrub trimming, and report where the needs are for the Trails Committee.

Trails is the muscle committee. Almost all are graduates of the Trail Boss Program, a 5-day training program that teaches durable trail maintenance techniques. Extraordinary heavy human, mountain bike, and equestrian use, the ravages of the inevitable erosion from periodic torrential rains of the high desert, and you have a constant need for trail maintenance on the Red Rock District. And then there are the new trails to be built! Add to this is the protection of the Red Rock area’s ecologically sensitive vegetation and you will appreciate how much time is spent attempting to eliminate and naturalize what are referred to as “social trails.”

And for the less sturdy and adventuresome: Friends of the Forest provides the perfect venue: Visitor Information Services. Men and Women provide the district with full-time coverage at the Ranger Station and at the Visitor Center. Besides getting the message to the visitor we want the visitor to get, we are receptionists for the rangers at the Ranger Station and provide some assistance with projects that can be done while we are at the front desk.

The Water Sampling Committee samples the waters of Oak Creek for biological contaminants, and the Weed Warriors attack the never-ending supply of noxious and invasive weeds on the district. They also seed areas with native species. The Orchard Committee took on the challenge of restoring and maintaining the historic fruit orchards in Oak Creek Canyon. The land was purchased by the Forest Service in 1968 and is an old homestead with historic significance. The remains of Zane Grey’s cabin where he lived when he wrote “Call of the Canyon,” one of his most famous books, is surrounded by orchards. The orchards had been neglected for more than 40 years. They are now showing the results of 2 years of care by this dedicated committee.

When the River Ranger came to a Friends meeting 2 months ago to ask how many members would be interested in providing logistical support by driving a truck load of people and supplies, pull a trailer loaded with boats and more supplies to drop-off points, and returning at a pre-arranged time to the pick-up point, 17 hands shot into the air. All have now taken defensive driving training and been are certified to have a Government Drivers License. The first run of the River Rats was proclaimed “perfect” by the River Ranger and “great fun and very informational” by the first Friend who had the honor of doing the first run!

Many other projects are accomplished by Friends of the Forest outside the purview of an official committee: Peregrine Falcon sites are monitored, bat exits recorded, and a wildlife drinking trough system installed. We developed and produced the visitor’s guides for our archaeological sites, supplied Water Hazard signs warning visitors when contaminants are found in Oak Creek, provided First Aid pamphlets to the Forest Service for Training, and support National Trails Day activities.

Friends of the Forest monitor trailheads during fire restrictions and closure and each year relieve seasonal employees at fire towers.

Members spent almost 2,000 hours conducting the required quadrennial National Visitor Use Monitor survey upon which local federal funding is based.

Bill Possiel, President NFF; Helen Campbell then president of Friends of The Forest; Dale Robertson, Former Chief of the Forest Service; and Ken Anderson, District Ranger celebrate the first of seven projects that NFF and Friends of the Forest will jointly fund.

Through an unprecedented partnership with the NFF, we have partnered on seven projects through the National Association of Forest Service Retirees and NFF’s small matching grants program. The partnership essentially doubled our money for the following seven projects.

• Kiosk signage explaining what a Wilderness is and Leave No Trace information has been provided at Wilderness portals throughout the district. The signs have also provided a prototype for other districts on the forest.
• Signs now provide valuable information to protect the Narrow Headed Garter Snake along Oak Creek. The snake is listed as a “Sensitive Species” and is experiencing a rapid decline in population due to loss of streamside habitat, disappearance of native fish as a food source, non-native predators, and human predation. These signs are in both English and Spanish.
• A wildlife water project restored an historic water source for wildlife, repairing an existing storage tank, replacing piping and installing a trough designed for small and large animals alike.
• Seed was purchased and sowed to restore native species to key areas and prevent the spreading of noxious weeds.
• An erosion control project restored a badly eroded gully in a riparian area that is critical wildlife habitat.
• The matching grant program provided equipment, making it possible to take on the Orchard Project.
• The recently approved project will involve a long-term effort to restore the bat population and protect their roosting area in the Springs Cave.

Friends of the Forest have proven valuable for in-kind matches for grants such as
Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality,
Centennial Challenge, and Five Star Restoration Challenge grant programs.

Helen Campbell enjoys Rick Zabor’s reaction upon being presented
an award by Smokey Bear at the Friends of the Forest’s 2004 Annual Meeting.

We are non-political and this commitment has served us well. The Friends of the Forest President is considered a member of Staff and attends Staff meetings. This is a huge factor in our understanding of what the Forest Service goes through to accomplish their mission. That knowledge could not be gained anywhere else! We have earned the Forest Service’s trust, as individuals and as an organization. We provide serious help on an understaffed district and the staff knows how to use us and they do! Each of us has a deep and sincere respect for the rangers with whom we work. One can feel the synergy and we get to see the neat stuff we accomplish on the ground. We let the Forest Service set the priorities. We have long outgrown the need for day-to-day supervision; we now manage ourselves. We are solution oriented, work driven, not “issue” driven. We are an extension of the Forest Service’s efforts and staffing. And what could be more important; we experience that priceless ingredient called FUN!

Friends of the Forest is a unique organization and provides its members many opportunities to expand our horizons. We learn from each other, Forest Service personnel, and experts in wilderness skills, first aid,and CPR, incident command, and the history, geology, flora, and fauna of the Sedona area. As a group, and as individuals, we have opportunities to form partnerships with members of other community groups. Rather than focusing on issues, we seek solutions with a strong and effective volunteer program. Quite simply, WE GET THE JOB DONE!

Each year we are challenged, intrigued, and entertained.
Each year we wonder how we can do more next year!

But there is more than just hours and money. Much more!
Although the money and the hours are impressive,
it is the people and how we work with the rangers that is most to be envied…….
and with rewards that are far reaching for Friends and rangers.

“Friends of the Forest provides us with the gift of FRIENDSHIPS.
Some friends, like me, wear the volunteer patch. Other friends wear the Forest Service badge and uniform.

We have been given the gift of KNOWLEDGE….
about our land and our forest and the almost-overwhelming challenges that face the Forest Service.

We have experienced the gift of OPPORTUNITY….
to ‘preserve, protect, and restore’ our natural resources.

The gift of FEELING…
that somehow, we belong to this precious land and it belongs to us.

And we have been given the gift of SEEING….
the projects that the Friends of the Forest and the Forest Service have accomplished together.
We see we are making a difference!

About the author (written by Mike Ward, Vice-President):

“How would it be if there were 100 people chomping at the bit to volunteer on your forest? You set the priorities, they manage themselves, and every year they give you 21,000 hours.
Sound impossible? Well it is not impossible and I am here to tell you why.”

So begins one of Helen Campbell’s many presentations about volunteerism at National Forest Service Regional conferences, National Forest Supervisor staff meetings, and Ranger Districts throughout the western United States where she has been invited to speak.

Campbell, immediate past president of Sedona’s Friends of the Forest, was appointed last year to the newly created post of “Ambassador at Large” so that she could continue accepting speaking engagements begun when she was president. It started innocently enough 2 years ago when Bill Possiel, National Forest Foundation’s (NFF) President, accepted Campbell’s invitation to travel to Sedona to see first hand how the newly developed small matching grants program was working in Sedona. Possiel then invited Campbell to address the Board of Directors of NFF and tell them about this incredible volunteer group he had come to know very well. A few months later Campbell was invited to speak at the Southwestern Regional Partnership Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Speaking engagements at the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie Forest Headquarters and the Gifford Pinchot Forest Headquarters in Washington State were followed by The Peaks and Mormon Lakes Ranger Districts closer to home. After speaking at the Regional Wilderness Conference in Flagstaff, Campbell headed north where she and Terry Adams, USDA Forest Service, spoke to the Forest Leadership Team of the Mt. Hood National Forest in Portland, Oregon.

When asked “How can we start a Friends??!!” Campbell assures us, “You can! Do you have a little more time?!”

Contact/More information: www.Friendsoftheforestsedona.org