Always Burning in California

Hello everyone!

Yet again this week was another action packed one!  The week started relaxed with a law enforcement meeting.  The meeting was held to refresh everyone on what facility to take apprehended individuals to.  As I have talked about before, jurisdictionally Santa Monica can be fairly complicated and it is a spread out park.  Therefore, a ranger must know his/her jurisdictional boundaries and which holding facility to take detained individuals depending on where they are apprehended.  It was an interesting conversation to sit in on.  The end of the meeting was then the supervisors asking what resources the field rangers thought that they needed.

The cover of the packet that we used to guide our meeting.

After this, I tagged along with Brandon and Jess for running traffic.  The motto of the week was still "click it or ticket" which refers to fasten your seatbelt or get a ticket.  We contacted four vehicles during our time.  Jess wrote one ticket for the lack of wearing a seatbelt and the rest they gave out warnings for rolling a stop sign.

The next day was quite an interesting day.  The day started off normal with Brandon and I collecting the data on the camera at the waterfall.  However, not too long after we got a call that there was a fire in progress a couple of miles away from where I live.  We responded to the call and sure enough, there were flames at a nearby ranch.  Brandon and I had the job of making sure people were evacuated out of the nearby trails and making sure no one enters while the fire was going on (you would be surprised how many people try).  Luckily, there was not much wind and the surrounding fire departments were all over the fire.  The fire never got too out of control and it was put out within the same day.

A view of the fire when it was fortunately getting under control.

The last day of work this week was noteworthy.  It started with Brandon and I witnessing more than 20 motorcycles blowing through stop signs on a four-way.  Brandon then flipped on the sirens, got in front of them, pulled them all over, and had a talk with them.  Brandon said he would have written them all tickets if he had enough tickets with him and the time to write them all.  After that fiasco, me, Brandon, and another employee Armando decided to stick around solstice canyon for the first half of our shift.  We ended up writing four tickets for people jumping the fence and going into the waterfall (it was right in front of us and there are a million signs so there was no sympathy).  We also wrote two tickets for people having their dogs off of their leash.  After this, I got to truly experience the side of law enforcement that Criminal Minds and CSI: Miami doesn't show you.  Paperwork.  For every ticket that you write as a law enforcement officer, you have to write a report and upload it to a database called IMARS which I had the pleasure of experimenting with last week.

Site Visit and More!

Hello everyone!

This week was a unique one! It started with Ranger Fernandez and Mr. Luongo coming for a site visit and then ended with very interesting law enforcement contacts.

Ranger Fernandez and Mr. Luongo visited for two days to get a feel for the Santa Monica Mountains.  The first day that I was with them I made sure to show them the key places and people that I have interacted with.  First things first, I took them to one of my favorite cafes called Conejo Coffee.  At Conejo Coffee Shahab (the owner of the cafe) poured us some coffee and cooked us up some great breakfast burritos to give us energy for the day.  After we nourished ourselves I gave them the tour of Rancho Sierra Vista (RSV) which is where I live.  They got to see my house, the plant nursery, the education building, all of my horse friends, Mary, and Ranger Mike Yost.

On a trail outside my house at RSV

After RSV, I took Ranger Fernandez and Mr. Luongo to the main headquarters offices.  While giving them the tour of the building they got to meet the great people of the office who I had the pleasure of working with.  After this, I took them to the law enforcement HQ to give them a quick tour of the building and Western Town which is right across from the building.  At Western Town, they could see the damage that the fire inflicted.

The next day I took them through a day in the life of a law enforcement ranger at the Santa Monica Mountains.  There is no better way to do this than take them to Solstice Canyon (violation city).  We hiked up to the waterfall and I only had to kick one person out and send one woman with a dog (not allowed to have dogs at the waterfall) back down.

At Solstice Canyon.

Smiling for all of the potential violators.

Philadelphia supervisors meet the Santa Monica supervisor.

After the tour, it was back to business as usual.  The day after Ranger Fernandez and Mr. Luongo left Brandon showed me how to disassemble and clean a handgun, shotgun, and assault rifle which was an interesting process.

The last day of the week was the most unique day of all.  I knew it was going to be an interesting one because the day started right when I left my house for work.  I took two steps outside my door and I saw an adult couple trying to take wood from the Chumash sacred grounds.  Of course, I explained to them that taking natural resources from the sacred grounds was something you could not do and thankfully they responded well.

As the day went on Brandon and I started to patrol Solstice.  During the patrol, a woman and her mother were hiking and the mom was having leg pains so we ended up giving them a ride back to their car.  As this was happening we got a call that a brush fire started on Potrero and Wendy which is close to my house.  So after we helped the people we responded to the scene of the fire.  Luckily the fire department was close by and put it out fairly quickly.  So while we were there I assisted in working the scene.  We ended up finding some evidence and got multiple witnesses who could attest to the description of the people who started the fire and their vehicle.

After this, we decided to patrol some of the parking lots and ended up finding eight juveniles underage drinking and eating pot brownies. This whole process of getting them together, searching the car, and calling their parents took quite a long time.  This was a great experience because I got to see Brandon and Eric in action doing great law enforcement work.

More Fun Adventures at SAMO

Hello everyone!

This week was another week packed with new experiences!  I got to work with two new rangers, got to work a totally different job, and had new experiences on my ride along. 

The first day of work was great because I got to work with the horses which was totally new for me.  If I am being honest, before this day I sort of feared horses.  After spending the day working with them though I created a bond with each of them and now I love them.  The law enforcement ranger that works with the horses is named Mike and he helped introduce me to Bayberry, Blue, Cache, and Gunner (all of the horses).  There was also a trainer named Edgar who helped me conquer my fear of horses.  I started out by just standing next to them while Edgar explained how horses behaves and how I should behave around the horses.  Then I graduated to touching the horse.  After that I learned how to bend down, lift up the horses leg, and check the shoes for damage.  For the final step I actually walked the horse (Gunner) around the site (sort of like a big dog) and felt completely comfortable with contact.  This experience was incredibly awesome for me and I enjoyed every second of it! 

Gunner being silly and rolling around. The stables for these horses is right by my house so I see this often!

After being introduced to the horses I watched as Edgar and a volunteer named Sabine trained one of the horses (who is named Blue).  While they were training Blue, Mike would explain to me what they are doing and why they were doing it.

Edgar and Sabine training Blue.

After training there was actually a vet visit that I got to witness!  The way horses eat they end up grinding their teeth a certain way that can be really bad so the veterinarians do some dental work.

Bayberry getting ready for the vet. Excitement is at an all time high

A nice view of Bayberry's mouth

When I was done with the horses I still had a few hours left in the day which meant I had the opportunity to ride with, former ProRanger, Jess Cooper for a few hours.  All we did was patrol a place called Circle X and talked.  She actually just transferred here permanently so it was fun asking her questions about the transition.



The next day I got to work with Jess the whole day.  We started the day off at headquarters and she helped me write a practice ticket which I appreciated.  We then sat in on a training about radios because SAMO recently reprogrammed the whole operation.  I then got to sit in on a meeting between Jess and Eric (the LE ranger I worked with last week) about an ongoing case which was fascinating (if I could elaborate I would but I am not allowed).  After all of that was done I got to ride along with Jess the entire day.  It was a relatively slow day with very few contacts.  The one exception was that Jess wrote a warning for an expired plate.  The only reason she didn't write a ticket is because the woman already had a ticket and had to appear in court anyway.  After the slower day we went back to the law enforcement headquarters.  There we joined forces with Eric and ran traffic.  This was my first time running traffic and it was a cool experience.  We ended up pulling two people over for running stop signs in the hour that we did it.  I got to witness totally new experiences which was very cool.


The next day I was back with my supervisor Brandon.  On this day we patrolled an area called Zuma.  Zuma is a massive trail within the park.  We were making sure that the trail was drivable and found a couple spots where if you were to run over it your car would sink and it would not be a good time.  So whenever we see a place like that one of us would take the iPad and drop a pin where we are so people know about it.


The last day of work I rode along with Brandon again.  The first thing on our agenda was drive to Solstice Canyon and to set up a camera because people just do not stop jumping in the waterfall.  The idea is to have the camera there as a deterrent.  Right before we were able to complete this goal however, we had an interesting contact.  As we drove up to one of the gates at Solstice and we heard some commotion which sounded like someone messing with a door.  We walked over and saw a man by a NPS storage room.  Brandon went over and approached him to ask him what he was doing.    Brandon ended up getting all of his information and gave him a verbal warning for trespassing however he plans on getting more information so employees can keep an eye out for him.  After this contact we were able to make it to the waterfall and set up the camera.

Brandon climbing up to drill in a camera

Hopefully this stops people from jumping in the waterfall!

After this we were patrolling Zuma because we got a call from a PSRM employee that there was a marijuana plant by the trail head.  Sure enough we found the plant and Brandon thought this would be a good teaching moment for me when evidence is found.  We bagged it and took it back to test it as if we found something we thought was drugs in the field.  It obviously came back positive for marijuana.  Since we didn't need it for any reason he also showed me how to dispose of evidence.  He needed two witnesses (Eric and I) to sign that he cut up and flushed the marijuana.  It was all an interesting process and I am glad that Brandon took the time out to show me everything.  After this we just did our driving patrol for the rest of the night and it was fairly quiet.

As you can see a positive test for marijuana shows up as purple on top and clear on the bottom 

Another Week in the Books

Hello everyone!

My third full week of law enforcement has come to an end and it contained some new experiences!

On my first work day I took a drive to Ventura to ride along at Channel Islands National Park. However, instead of car patrol I did boat patrol with a ranger named Tim! This was a bran new experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We were out on the water looking for fishing violations which was interesting. Even though we did not find anything the experience of being out on the boat was good enough for me. We still got to have friendly contacts with people riding along and the trip was full of beautiful views and animals such as sea lions and pelicans. It was also neat picking Tim's brain about how exactly he approaches making stops on boats (it sounded pretty stressful). After the patrol I even got to briefly meet the superintendent and have a conversation with the chief ranger of Channel Islands. It was great that he let me pick his brain for a little bit even though he was incredibly busy (he just transferred to Channel Islands 2 weeks ago). Overall it was a great experience!

Me in front of the arch! Apparently this is a popular tourist picture around the island.

Sea lions hanging out!

This is the boat that Tim and I patrolled on.

Inside the boat

Beautiful view from the boat!

The next day was fourth of July and I had the opportunity to ride along with a ranger at Santa Monica named Eric. We made a few really good contacts with people asking for directions, asking questions about the trails, asking about the history, and casual conversations. There were only a few violations such as people flying drones in an unauthorized area that we ran into. The fourth of July was actually a pretty slow day when it came to contacting people for violations so we did other jobs such as making sure trails are walkable and drivable. It was also awesome to be able to ride along with Eric because he actually just got back from FLETC (federal law enforcement training center). So not only did I get to see another way of going about law enforcement but I also got to ask him questions about FLETC. He was incredibly helpful and gave me advice that I will take with me for when my time comes.

On the next few days of the work week I went back with Brandon. These few days were honestly a slower when it came to law enforcement (which is why I am combining the two days). We only had a few contacts that were noteworthy. Brandon wrote a ticket for a parking violation, a ticket for an expired license plate, and a warning for an illegal photoshoot. Besides the contacts I also had a job of hiking a closed trail marking the signs that burned and need replacement. Other than that it was a quieter few days that we just spent patrolling around. However, even on these days where we don't have very many contacts it is still a good time because Brandon has endless stories from his 20+ years of being in law enforcement.

Second Week of LE in the Books

Hello everyone!

My second week of law enforcement (and sixth week overall, YIKES) finished up the other day. It was a unique time and I can't wait to go into some details. Sorry ahead of time for the limited pictures! During law enforcement I don't usually think of taking photos.

The first day was a simple day. I sat in on a training about permits. Permits are truly a convoluted topic of discussion because there is so much that goes into them. This training has taught me that it would take more than one training to be able to call out permit details off the top of your head. There are so many minute details about the permit process and what the NPS has to keep in mind when they give one out.

The second day I was out with Brandon. We patrolled Zuma trail again for law enforcement purposes and also to see if all of the "keep off" signs were pulled off the trail. After we did that task Brandon took me back to the office to do an online boat training. At the beginning of the internship I expressed interest in sailing and possibly going to Channel Islands and he made it happen! I had to watch a plethora of long videos and sign waivers to be able to do this which Brandon gave me the time to do. I will be going out on the boat to Channel Islands on Wednesday!

The next day I had the incredible opportunity to spend with chief Trouper Snow (such an epic name) of the Santa Monica Mountains. I had the opportunity to have lunch with him and talk to him casually person to person then also had the opportunity to go back to the office with him and interview him (lowly intern to chief). I obviously won't type out the entire transcript of our conversations but I will share three key things I learned while being able to converse with chief Trouper Snow. One, he is simply a great person in general. Two, his work ethic is off the charts and the amount he has on his plate is almost unfathomable. Three, he is an incredibly efficient boss who truly cares about his employees. Ergo, I enjoyed the time I was able to pick his brain. I learned a lot about the agency and he was willing to share his wisdom and give me great advice. At the end of our time he gave me a "challenge coin". Carrying the challenge coin represents hard work, dedication, respect, and the people you love so I was honored to be able to receive one. It will definitely be one of my cherished possessions I can take back home to Philadelphia.

Front of the coin. There are many different coins and this is specifically the Santa Monica Mountains one.

Back of the coin.

The last day Brandon and I did some patrolling and found some people flying a drone in a non-flying area. At the Santa Monica Mountains there is actually an area where you are allowed to fly drones and planes. These people starting flying in the designated area but the drone was drifting out. Brandon drove up to them and talked to them. He only talked to them and explained the rules because the signs that clarified the flying zone burned down in the fire and were not replaced. After we drove away he contacted another ranger to check up on them to make sure that they kept following the rules. After this we went to the gun range for the rest of the day. Brandon and three other rangers had to update their trainings with their duty weapons and I got to observe the process. I have never been to a gun range before or even shot a gun so the whole experience was new and I learned a lot. It was great because everyone was open to answering any questions I had. Even before I got the chance to ask some questions they explained things I was wondering about! It's always nice to be around people that are so willing to pour into me as much as possible.

Chief Trouper Snow calling out commands at the beginning of handgun training.

Jess Cooper (former ProRanger) calling out commands for a different handgun training.

First Full Week With Law Enforcement

Hello everyone!

This week was my first full week working primarily with my supervisor doing law enforcement! It was fun and interesting to see the day to day work of a law enforcement ranger at the Santa Monica Mountains.  Everyday we did patrols of the areas that Brandon (my supervisor) was scheduled to do and other miscellaneous jobs.

The first day of law enforcement we actually did not do much law enforcement.  The VRP division (visitor and resource protection which law enforcement falls under) had recently bought two new cars because they were getting rid of two old cars.  So we started off the day taking care of this business of switching out the cars.  It was a hassle because the places that we had to go were quite far away.  After this there was a sending off event for the fire fighting team that we attended.  People on the fire team were heading up to Canada for a little while so VRP wanted to give them a good send off.  This ended up taking the rest of the day.

The next day before we even started our patrol we got a call from one of the people in maintenance (Larry) that there was a smashed and abandoned car on the road.  Brandon and I went to check it out and it turns out Larry was right.  We ran the plates and with the help of a sheriff from another agency we found out that the dad and the son were into some sketchy activities.  We contacted California Highway Police and then they took care of the rest.  After this we did our patrol.  This particular day was quite cloudy so it ended up being a slow day.  We patrolled places such as Solstice Canyon, Cheeseboro, parts of the Zuma trail  (sometimes when there was a particularly slow part of the day Brandon would say "welcome to law enforcement" in a funny voice).  Since the day was slow we helped facilitate a radio update that the whole Santa Monica staff was doing.  SAMO was updating the channels and code that they were using for the radios and we helped by finding radios and getting them to the people coding them.

At Solstice Canyon there are ruins of a mansion that burned down in a wildfire in the 1980s

The third day of law enforcement we did the same patrol.  It ended up being another slower day ("welcome to law enforcement").  The one thing Brandon caught was a woman texting and driving.  He ended up writing her a warning.  The rest of our contacts were casual hikers asking for directions, however since it was not the nicest day there were very few contacts.  So we ended up doing some miscellaneous jobs such as helping out with the radios again.

Around the Solstice Canyon trails there is a quiet area tucked away that people can go and have a religious experience

The last day was more action packed because it was nice and sunny.  We had a large amount of contacts with people.  The majority of them were really good.  They were either casual conversations, giving directions, or informing people on the history of the site we were at.  There were only a few times that Brandon had to whip out his law enforcement voice.  One was when people were all jumping in the waterfall.  The NPS banned this about three years ago to protect an endangered species of frog.  However, even with the 3 or 4 signs saying not to do this, about 15 people jumped the fence and were in the water.  Everyone was very cooperative when Brandon ordered them out so he did not write any tickets.  He also told me afterwards that if someone is extremely cooperative and their kid is there he tries not to write a ticket if possible (I thought that was a cool thought process which I will keep in mind for my future career).  After this, Brandon noticed a car that "gave off the vibe of an expired plate".  Sure enough when we got a look at the license plate and ran it in the system it ended up being expired (it's almost as if Brandon has been doing this for over 20 years).  The driver ended up being an old lady so he wrote her a warning.

This is the view from an area at Solstice Canyon when it isn't foggy!

Part of the infamous waterfall that everyone wants to jump in but cannot 

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

I really like my supervisor and his way of approaching law enforcement.  Brandon has a really good balance of not being too easy going but also not being unreasonably strict to the point where it is hostile when he does his job.  I really admire the way that he is able to do this successfully because at the end of the day that seems like a quality that sets you up for success.  It was also good to see first hand how the life of a law enforcement ranger is day to day.  You truly do wear many hats and do a plethora of tasks (such as helping out with the radios).  It's also important to know that, like almost all jobs, there are fast paced days and very slow days.  It's not always full of excitement which is good to realize.

Week Four With the PSRM Crew!

Hello again everyone!

For week four I spent my time with the resource management division. Essentially, this division is a biology division in the Santa Monica Mountains.  The people in this division look at plants and animals to look at the health of the ecosystem. I also spent the day with my supervisor doing law enforcement activities which was incredibly interesting.

The first day I worked with a man named Mark. He looks at the vegetation in plotted areas to look at the health. This is especially important after last years devastating fire to see how the ecosystem will end up recovering. Mark explained to me that for vegetation they randomly pick a plot of land that is 30 meters by 10 meters and check it annually. This particular plot of land that was picked was on the side of a mountain that we had to hike up. This hike was only about 100 meters up but it was literally at almost a 45 degree angle which was such a blast to hike up (If my dad is reading this: picture walking up Challenger at Blue Mountain!). So once we got up there we roped off the plot of land that we were looking at and begun. What he looks for when he checks the plots of land is native species. So he would dissect each part of the land counting the plants, seedlings, dead plants, etc. Mark is a genius and can identify almost every plant by its genes name even if it is just a seedling. It was fascinating to watch. What I did while he was doing this was plug in all of the data he was yelling out.

This is a shot of Mark and I plotting the land to work in.

Falling wouldn't have been a very good time.

A picture of me giving the thumbs up so Mark knows I'm not dying walking through the thorns.

The next day I worked with a woman named Ashley. On this day we worked at the trails right outside where I am living (gotta love the short commute) to do similar work. This time, however, we looked at random 500 meter segments along the trails. Then instead of looking at native species Ashley was looking for invasive and non indigenous species. PSRM looks for certain vegetation to maintain or even eradicate if they can to keep the ecosystem as natural as possible. She also took me to a place called the plant nursery. This is where she and her fellow coworkers can run experiments to look at the health of the plants or grow plants that they believe need some help.

This is within the plant nursery where they can conduct experiments.

The last day I worked with PSRM I was with two people named Josh and Andrea. This day we worked with animals rather than vegetation. The animals are checked on multiple times a week which is way more often than vegetation (animals are more mobile and dynamic species). Essentially they set up traps to be able to check on animals in the area. There are many days where they come up with nothing but that was not the case when I was shadowing. We saw many scorpions, centipedes, a toad, a shrew (type of rodent), and even an alligator lizard (my personal highlight). When we found these species we would record the approximate age, weight, and length of these animals. You can tell the health of an ecosystem by the types of animals that you find and the health of the specific animals that you find.

This is one of the traps that they look for animals in

The inside of the trap. The sponge is there as a water source and the PVC pipes are there for the animals to go into. At the bottom right you can see the shrew!

Hello there!

As you can see he's excited to be here.

This is the alligator lizard! As you can see he was pretty big!

What a happy fella.

The last day of my work week I spent the day with my supervisor. The law enforcement rangers at SAMO were in the middle of training days so I got to tag along and even participate during this day. On this day we did defense tactics (for you ProRangers who went to leadership camp: we did some familiar tactics such as tac falls, tac rises, high clench, and low clench). After this we drove to an area called Calabasas (you may know this area because of the Kardashians...didn't see any of them though so I'm pretty broken up about it). Here we met up with different law enforcement agencies and there was a two part presentation on school shootings. For the first part, a detective had a talk where he walked us through an incident with powerpoint slides and videos of the incident (because there were cameras in the school that got the whole thing). He then got to one of his main points which was that he believes more law enforcement (an all first responders) should be EMT certified and that would save so many more lives. After the detective presented there was another part of the presentation that came from more of the education side. A school superintendent talked about how we can try and prevent these incidents in the first place. His suggestion was to invest in the kids. Develop deep relationships with them and really nurture their mental health. This was especially powerful in my opinion.


CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
I thought that all of the law enforcement agencies getting together was very special. Apparently they all meet quarterly to talk about different issues. Some issues they covered were homelessness, school shootings, and fires. This type of working together was very impressive to me and it was cool to be apart of. I think it's so important for agencies to work together and have solid dialogues to be able to be the most efficient in helping people.

Santa Monica National Recreation Area Week Three

Hello again everybody!

I can't believe my third work week in the Santa Monica Mountains has come to an end. Time is flying!

For this week I spent my time with the Facilities Management division. This group of men and women were lots of fun to work with and I learned a lot. I am used to working with my hands, however I got to do some jobs that were totally new to me.

For example, my first day working I spent the day with three people named Dan, Tom, and Riley. The day started off with a bang when we had to go pump out some bathrooms at the park. This was definitely a unique experience for me. First, Tom and I filled up a water truck to bring over to the bathroom. We then met up with a contracted company that supplied the "vacuum truck" (the PG name for it).

The "vacuum truck" and the water truck

All of us worked together to vacuum up the waste while using the water to make sure it was as clean as possible. The last step was to make sure the bathroom was disinfected and smelled nice. The process itself took about an hour or so to complete.

Action shot of pumping the bathroom

After this job we had a task to go solve a water problem at one of the law enforcement ranger's homes. We drove all the way to his place, which was about an hour away, to check and see what was wrong. We ended up finding a HUGE pipe burst around the complex. All we could do that day was turn off the water and to plan the course of action. Tom and Dan looked to see all of the parts that they would need and planned how they would approach it. I wish I had a photo but unfortunately I was not thinking about that at the time! To give a visual, the leak literally created a creek.

The next day I worked with Shelly. Shelly's job that day was to check and see if one of the trails (Zuma trail) were ROV friendly. So we picked up the ROV with a trailer and drove it up to the trail head. She ended up letting me drive which was so much fun! The trail was beaten up which made the off-roading so fun. Fun until we got to a really rough part and I accidentally popped a tire on the ROV (more interns more problems, right?). As Shelly saw me face palm she laughed and said this happens all of the time which made me feel better. Clearly the trail was not ROV friendly so we turned it around and brought back the news to the maintenance crew. After we dropped off the equipment we helped unload a shipment of wood for building tables.

My third day working we started out with a training which they have every Thursday. We talked about heat exhaustion which is a real problem in California when the temperatures start to consistently be in the triple digits. We talked about ways to prevent it such as staying hydrated, taking breaks, not working alone and looking out for your coworkers. After this I was with a guy named Larry. Larry has been working for the park service since he was 19 (that was in 1987!!). He had a plethora of stories to say the least.

Larry has saved all of his hats he ever owned working for the parks. The top one was the very first he got in 1987!

His main job is trail work so we went up to a part of the Zuma trail to do upkeep.

Larry doing some trail maintenance. This is actually the spot where I popped the tire with the ROV! Good times.

I was there to spot him because where we were was actually really dangerous. We were on a cliffside and Larry was working a machine so if anything went awry I was there to help him or make a call.

Larry taking a quick break. You may not be able to tell from the photo but this is a VERY treacherous part. The angle on the sides is incredibly steep which is why Larry always likes a spotter.

My last day was an interesting day. I worked with Brandon, my supervisor, to strip a car. This was something I have never done before so it was quite interesting. We picked up the car, brought back, and just totally gutted it. I had a good amount of fun doing it! The entire process did end up taking a full 9ish hours.

A different car but this is essentially what it looked like before we put our hands on it.

Really getting in there tearing up the inside.

Some of the inside parts. Also just a tad bit dusty.

Taking off the logos was actually pretty grueling. You had to use a heat gun and something to slowly peal it off. Heat gun plus the California sun is not a good time.

Done with the logos! Now all is left is to try to remove the adhesive.

WE'RE OFFICIALLY DONE! No police lights, no logos, and no gun racks! Just your average Chevy Tahoe!

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the maintenance crew! The people there were very nice and willing to share their experiences and opinions with me which I am grateful for. When people are motivated to pour into you it makes the experience one hundred times better. In this division there are many hardships that I have noticed. A few examples are that they have computers from the 1990s, the equipment they use in the field is old, and they have not had a supervisor in two years. There are all of these obstacles yet everyone has a relatively positive attitude which I have a lot of respect for.

Fun Times From Week Two!

Hello Everyone!

My week two at the Santa Monica Mountains came to a close yesterday. This week I mostly worked with the education crew and then I worked to help run the National Trails Day event on Saturday! It was a tremendous week because what I did was a blast and the people I got to work with are incredible people.

To give a brief summary, the tasks that the education crew had this week was to run kids programs on Wednesday and Thursday and get miscellaneous work done on Friday (I will go into more detail later). Then on Saturday it was National Trails Day so I tried my best to help keep that event organized and efficient.

On Wednesday, a school called Hamlin Charter School came for a field trip which was held literally right outside where I am living at a place called Rancho Sierra Vista. Roughly 36 kids showed up for the field trip to learn more about the Chumash Native American Tribe and the Santa Monica Mountains environment. There were 3 people I was working with but I eventually only shadowed a volunteer named Mary who was fantastic. It was all led off with everyone together having a quick and general lesson about the Chumash discussing topics such as their way of life. The discussion was then shifted to how we should respect nature and the national parks. The kids had great things to say when their input was asked for which was encouraging for me! We then split the kids into three groups (each of my co-workers would lead a group) and this is when I went off with Mary. Mary started off with a hike pointing out various plants, animals, and relating them all back to the Chumash and how the Chumash used these resources to live their lives.

Mary engaging with the kids on the hike! 

After the hike, we went to an activity where Mary talked about how the Chumash were close to the ocean and used those resources. She passed around specific shells they used called abalone shells and she ran an activity where they used a Chumash drill to make a necklace. After this we moved to an activity that was inside a Chumash home, called an 'Ap, and Mary led a discussion about Chumash artifacts and went more in depth how the Chumash used the resources around them.

Abalone shells were used for digging, bowls, and jewelry 

Shark skin could be used as sandpaper because of the rough texture

Chumash drills. Truly a brilliant design!

Some kids practicing with the drill. The house I am living in is actually in the background!

This is a Chumash home which is called an 'Ap

On Thursday, a school from north Hollywood came and a few more kids showed up. This time there were about 135 kids. Also, the field trip was different than the last one and was held at King Gillette Ranch.

A couple quotes that I liked which were cemented at King Gillette Ranch

A couple quotes that I liked which were cemented at King Gillette Ranch

It started off in a similar way as Wednesday where we started off as a group and then split off into groups. Luckily this time we had 5 people running groups. This time around I shadowed a different person, Ranger Mary (not the same Mary...there are a lot of Marys). This field trip started off with a hike once again relating nature to the Chumash. Ranger Mary also ran a discussion about culture and got the kids to talk about their own cultures which was a treat to listen in on. The kids also got a chance to look at Chumash artifacts that Ranger Mary passed around.

Ranger Mary showing the kids an abalone shell

Ranger Mary is showcasing an artifact that the Chumash used for music! When you spin in around it creates a unique sound.

The field trip then transitioned into Spanish influence and looking at Spanish culture. On King Gillette Ranch there are many Spanish style buildings. Ranger Mary talked to the kids about how each culture influenced each other (by choice and by force in the case of the Spanish). The final topic that Ranger Mary talked to the kids about were the homesteaders (American settlers) and their life moving to the West.

An activity where they had to differentiate Chumash and Spanish tools

Finished product of the activity!

After learning a little about the Chumash, Spanish, and homesteaders they got to build different styles of homes!

On Friday it was a an office day. We essentially looked over letters that kids sent to us and chose some to type up. This was important because the ones that we choose to type up are sent to the government and donors. They are looking for kids learning and enjoying the parks and if they see that more funding may get sent towards Education and Interpretation. I worked with two interns doing this named Fabiola and Melanie who were a blast to work with!

On Saturday it was National Trails Day! If you are unfamiliar, it is a mostly nationwide idea that on the first Saturday of June each park holds some sort event. For our park we held an event where people came and did maintenance on the trails. Over 160 people showed up! My responsibilities consisted of helping out with setting up, traffic/parking, taking photos, helping with the maintenance, and cleaning up. It was an incredible day of people coming together and helping keep the mountains beautiful. After the fire there was so much damage done that every helper counts! It was an honor to be apart of it.

Do I need to caption that this is a sign?

A little taste of me directing parking. It was like doing a puzzle which was a fun time!

People taking time out of their day volunteering to fortify the trails. A beautiful thing.

Putting the kids to work

"You're young and my back hurts so here ya go."

I had to show SOME proof that I did some physical labor! I SWEAR that this is my hand about to help put a post in the ground!

A FEW MORE THOUGHTS:

The education programs for kids here are amazing. I had a chance to interview Ranger Mary for about 45 minutes to learn more and it's great. California has a program called Every Kid in a Park that essentially makes it apart of the fourth grade science/history/social studies curriculum to visit the Santa Monica mountains (there are also other sub-programs within Every Kid in a Park). It gets kids from inner-cities that may not have easy access to the parks access through the school. This speaks to me as someone who was involved with a school in Kensington back in Philadelphia. Investing in kids is something I am passionate about and I am glad that the Santa Monica Mountains staff is passionate about. Through the NPS, State Parks, and Channel Islands it's not official but it's estimated that about 30,000 kids were reached in the 2018-2019 year. That's WITH the Woolsey Fire. I have so much respect for the Education and Interpretation division and I loved working with the people involved.