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Ranger Greg Wells was one of those special rangers who could
juggle a turkey caller, shovel, gun and mountain bike. He
began his twenty years in the Auburn State Recreation Area,
ASRA, as the American River Canyons began to emerge as a valuable
wilderness, historical, cultural and recreational preserve.
Prior to that the canyons were viewed by many as a "throw
away" area for the proposed Auburn reservoir. As a patrol
ranger, along with his colleagues, he brought much needed
law and order to the park.
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| Ranger Greg Wells
carefully removes rope from the Ponderosa Way Bridge
on the North Fork of the American River |
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Greg's interest in hunting, hiking and mountain biking led
him to become a master guide in restoring existing trails
and planning and constructing new trails within ASRA. Some
of his favorite projects were the Olmstead Loop Trail, the
Culvert Trail, The Auburn-to-Cool Trail, the Divide Loop Trail
and the soon to open Clementine Connecter Trail. Ranger Greg
Wells excelled at a time when the park was in desperate need
of excellence. We wish him well and hope that he will continue
to use his expertise for the good of the American River and
its canyons.
Canyon Keepers
Enjoy Their Fourth Season
This year marks the fourth season that Canyon
Keepers volunteers have assisted the professional Park Rangers
within the Auburn State Recreation Area (ASRA) by providing
information and assistance to ASRA visitors. The group was
founded in 1998 under the guidance of the late Frank Olrich
and Jill Dampier, ASRA Park Superintendent, and began working
at the Confluence in 1999. Once again members have been "on
duty" under the Old Foresthill Bridge and patrolling
the confluence area on weekends and holidays between Memorial
Day and mid-September. More new members received training
this year than at any time since the group's inception and
their activities have expanded.
Canyon Keepers were actively engaged in construction of a
soon to be opened multi-purpose trail between the Lower Lake
Clementine Road and a section of the Foresthill Divide Loop
trail -- about three miles. Additionally, under the leadership
of Trails Chairman Rod Gross, a number of members have completed
the first ten individual trail guides in a series that are
available at Park headquarters, the Placer County Visitors
Center, the ASRACK booth at the Confluence and on the ASRACK
Web-site (see address below).
Under the direction of Operations Chairman Linda Smith, the
Canyon Keepers led Jr. Ranger Program for youngsters 7-12
years of age enjoyed its best attended season to date during
each of the seven Saturday morning sessions held during July-August.
Monthly hikes have been held with experienced guest leaders
including Evan Jones, John Krogsrud, Rodi Lee, Joe Medeiros
and Ernie Riley providing interpretive commentary along the
way. Canyon Keeper Carroll Mistler has organized these outings
for the third consecutive year.
A new project to develop a self-guided interpretive trail
in the confluence area, including descriptions of the historic
bridges and the local flora, is underway. Official approval
from State Parks has been given for placing a dozen markers;
and written descriptions and illustrations are being completed.
The Placer County Visitors Center has approved a grant request
for funding of this project -- which will be administered
through PARC.
Canyon Keeper meetings, which are open to the public, are
held at 5:45 PM at the American River Overlook modular building
on the first Tuesday of each month (except November and December)
and guest speakers have helped attract increasing attendance.
For more info contact Jim Ferris at 530/885-3776
or e-mail ferris@telis.org
The Canyon Keepers Web-site is: www.psyber.com/~/asrack.htm
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