On Thursday, April 28, five employees from Patagonia took the time to get out into the forest and help ForestWatch clean up the Tar Creek parking area.
Looking out over the Sespe Condor Sanctuary
The volunteers spent over four hours, just cleaning up the trailhead – removing broken glass, bullet casings and rounds, litter, beer cans, and even destroying a few improvised fire rings and hidden campsites.
In total, the small team removed over 150 lbs of trash from the area.
The parking area is less than a mile from the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, a protected area established in 1947 to set aside a safe, protected area for condors to breed, nest, roost, and forage. However, the parking area serves as a trailhead to an illegal access trail to Tar Creek falls, which lies within the Sanctuary. This illegal trail once brought hundreds of people on weekends to the Tar Creek Falls, which is a also favorable roosting and nesting site for endangered California Condors. The public often left behind large quantities of trash, human food, people covered rocks in graffiti and created other hazards which led to numerous complications to the species’ health. Last year, in response to this growing problem, the US Forest Service announced that federal law enforcement officers would be strictly the closure of the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, and focusing on the user-created trail to Tar Creek. Entry into the sanctuary can now result in a $5,000 fine and/or six months of jail time, yet that doesn’t keep out determined trespassers.
Huge thank you to those from Patagonia that were able to take time from their busy schedules to come contribute to condor safety and survival!
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