Volunteers from all over California convened last weekend to work on wildlife-friendly fencing along the South Fork of the Kern River in order to improve riverine habitat for deer, turkey and upland game.
After a hard day's work, volunteers hit the river and found shady pools and hungry fish in an effort to provide valuable fisheries data to the Bureau of Land Management.
To wash it all down, they had a keg of Outstanding IPA donated by Kern River Brewing and smoked venison spaghetti brought by Dave Allen, one of the Chapter's Regional Chapter Leaders. A special thanks also Josh Kidwell for securing the keg and to board member Chad Thomas for leading the project and making wild boar breakfast burritos for everyone.
The work was similar to BHA's Sierra Nevada riparian restoration project last year, which included cutting brush away from the fence line, adding smooth strand wire on the bottom, repairing lengths of cut-fence/slicing, un-twisting fence, replacing t-post clips and fence staples, re-tightening loose wires, installing stays, installing additional t-posts, and improving some braces. There were two river crossings that required complete replacement of the t-posts where it was washed out, in addition to installing dead-mans to serve as braces in several spots due to sandy soils.
A huge thank you to all of the volunteers that spent their weekend on public lands supporting wildlife habitat and fisheries!
About California BHA
The California Chapter of BHA seeks to ensure that North America's outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing is sustained for generations, through education and work on behalf of the state's wild public lands, waters and wildlife.