Still Breezin

      Much like the last post, I am back again with a whole lot of the same thing and a sprinkle of some new interesting things I have been able to do. I’ll start with the same super interesting bathrooms and trash that I have been absolutely destroying. Some people call me the amazing trashman and wave or thank me now because it is common to see me on the side of the road or by the bathrooms not letting any piece of waste get by me unless I come across some things that are better left on the ground (poop). I try my best but this mountain very rarely takes it easy on me and for that I would like to think I have become someone who can't be bothered by almost anything. In all honesty though it is nice and noticed that the locals who live up on Mt. Baldy appreciates the work I do with the food and kind words they provide me from time to time. Not only have I been keeping up with the trash and bathrooms, but I installed a new power washer and frame into a larger work vehicle that has been needing to be done for about 2 years. My job has become immensely easier with the extra 500 psi of water knocking off the thickest of anything you can think of. I know that whoever fills this position when I leave will thank me, and that's what I’m here for. Among some other things I have installed have been a few trail signs and some new carsonite camp signs so campers can make it more obvious that they have payed and I don’t have to get out of my vehicle and hound them for their pay stubs.

     Although this job sounds just like work work work, I do get to make a difference and help out students and youth conservation corps members with showing them the outdoors and getting them familiar with the Mt. Baldy location. Citrus college has a program for students that allows them to receive a certificate in wildland resources and forestry with specific classes taken and one is a volunteer course that requires them to basically do a ride along with me for around 60 hours to receive credits for that class. I guess when I say I help them they are in fact helping me but I do lend them my past experience working for the Forest Service and see if it is really something they want to pursue. I DO NOT MAKE THEM CLEAN BATHROOMS, i have them hold my hose and just supply me with toilet paper because there are some things you really should be paid to do. But trash is free game and they do help me clean up the turnouts and other areas that need it. The California Conservation Corps has also been a big help to with the occasional crew coming and helping with more specific things like drilling in posts  and weed whacking hazardous growth. I actually really enjoy working with them because they remind me a lot of me when I worked for the Arizona Conservation Corps dipping my feet into local conservation. All and all this job has really put me in the forefront of the public and I have become one of the first if not the first Forest Service official for some people to meet and ask questions. I enjoy that I can add a new perspective to people's outlook on the area they are visiting and maybe a new found respect for it as well. I like to end conversations with “give a hoot don't pollute” because now it really does affect me.

-Connor Renard