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Backcountry Trails Update with Bryan Conant from Los Padres Forest Association
January 16, 2020 @ 6:30 am PST
Backcountry Trails Update with Bryan Conant from Los Padres Forest Association
Free Presentation with Q&A
Thursday, January 16th, 6:30PM
Faulkner Gallery – Santa Barbara Public Library
40 East Anapamu St., Santa Barbara, CA
Planning or dreaming of a backpacking trip into the Santa Barbara Backcountry this year, but don’t know which trails are overgrown, open, or to be avoided? How have the fires over the past 10 years, including the recent Thomas Fire, affected trail conditions in the backcountry, and what is being done to restore them?
Join Bryan Conant, Executive Director for the Los Padres Forest Association (LPFA), as he provides an overview of trail conditions in our local backcountry. LPFA and its corp of dedicated volunteers work closely with the Forest Service, maintaining and surveying the extensive network of trails within Los Padres National Forest. For the past 5 years LPFA has been working with the Forest Service to design and implement a program of work focused on restoring all the trails impacted by the 2007 Zaca Fire.
This presentation is a must for anyone heading out into the backcountry, and will highlight which trails have been worked and are scheduled to be worked in the coming year, as well as provide a first-hand account of what goes into restoring these incredibly wild and scenic trails.
Founded in 1979, Los Padres Forest Association, www.lpforest.org, helps organize and manage volunteer trail work projects within Los Padres National Forest. In addition to being the Executive Director of LPFA, Bryan is an avid backpacker, the author of two backcountry trail maps covering the San Rafael and Dick Smith Wilderness areas, and has been actively involved in the development of the Condor Trail, a 420-mile through hike route that traverses Los Padres National Forest.
This talk is part of the ongoing Wilderness Hiking Speaker Series hosted by the Santa Barbara Public Library. The talks are the third Thursday of the month and feature topics related to hiking, backpacking, and our local natural history.
The next talk in the series is Thursday, February 20th, Hiking Fiordland National Park’s Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track in New Zealand.