Case Study: Morongo Preserve-Ing The Environment

Morongo Preserve-ing the Environment
On National Public Lands Day, September 30, 2017, the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve hosted a volunteer event to help with preserve maintenance. I attended with several classmates. While there, we completed several assignments, including trail maintenance, clearing fallen branches, gravel relocation, and fence building. The trail maintenance was for hiker safety. We trimmed overgrown branches that may injure hikers and picked up fallen branches and twigs that had accumulated. That debris was shredded by a qualified person, using a wood chipper. Next, using shovels and wheelbarrows, we relocated gravel for use in alternate locations. Finally, we built a fence to separate trees and bushes from the preserve’s education center.

Pruning of trees to remove dead and diseased branches was critical to the longevity of the trees. Those diseased branches may have infected the entire tree (“Why Prune a Tree”). We also helped prevent potential brush fires by removing the brush in the area surrounding the education center. From 2007-2011 in the United States, there were an estimated 334,200 fires. Forty-one percent were brush fires (Ahrens). Health wise, my project was important. It benefited my health that day and will benefit the health of people who visit the preserve in the future. My health benefited because I was there for five hours doing moderate aerobic exercise. This is more than the daily recommended 150 minutes of cardio exercise (Laskowski). By clearing out piles of leaves and sticks, I aided future hikers. Those piles gave snakes a place to hunt and hide in (Crain). This means if not careful, hikers may have gotten attacked while walking past