California Confluences: Tom Walsh and the Fisheries Resource Volunteer Corps

Back when the late Richard Alden Bean wrote about Southern California waters for California Fly Fisher, he would occasionally mention an organization called the Fisheries Resource Volunteer Corps. Rick was a fan of the FRVC, which patrols trout streams in two national forests and also participates in a variety of projects that include electroshock surveys of fish populations, stream-temperature data collection, stream cleanups, and removal of invasive plant species. Obviously, much of this work benefits anglers, which is particularly noteworthy given it is performed on an extremely lean budget, yet provides a huge return on investment for the forests and their visitors.

The FRVC, however, is almost entirely unknown outside of a relatively limited area of Southern California. As our state’s population continues to increase, bringing with it commensurate impacts to publicly owned lands and the angling waters contained therein, the need for similar groups elsewhere will surely rise. The FRVC therefore provides a model that fishery advocates can emulate for their own waters, and presumably it can be extended to include state-owned lands and those of the federal Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers. To better understand this potential, Tom Walsh (no photo available), president of the FRVC, gives us the low-down on the group’s work and structure, plus a fishing tip or two.

Richard: What does the Fisheries Resource Volunteer Corps do?

Tom: The primary mission of the FRVC is to protect and monitor 15 wild-trout streams and their tributaries in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests through monthly stream patrols by trained FRVC volunteers in Forest Service uniform. While on patrol, volunteers interact with forest visitors by answering questions and by providing directions and information about habitat and watershed conservation, camping, fire, fishing, and safety regulations. Other duties performed on patrol include documenting damage to resources, repairing and servicing angler survey boxes and interpretive signage, as well as removing illegal fire rings, invasive plants, graffiti, recreational dams, and trash left by forest visitors.

The FRVC assists the Forest Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with conservation rehabilitation projects, electrofishing and snorkel surveys, stream surveys, eagle and bighorn sheep surveys, water-quality testing, installing and maintaining water-temperature and air-temperature monitors, campground and facility maintenance, and staffing public education events and Forest Service visitor centers.

In addition, the FRVC coordinates and supervises conservation service projects with community groups, inner-city youth groups, and the Trout in the Classroom Program.

Richard: Who formed it, and why?

Tom: The FRVC was formed in 1994 by Don Stehsel, who still is an active FRVC volunteer. As an avid fly fisher on the streams in the San Bernardino National Forest, he witnessed a significant increase in graffiti, trash, damage to resources, and anglers who routinely ignored fishing regulations, and he was determined to change this behavior.

Richard: How many people are involved with your group?

Tom: Currently there are 92 FRVC volunteers, 82 of whom were active this past year.

Richard: Do you draw volunteers only from the fly-fishing community, or are others engaged in its work?

Tom: We do draw volunteers from the fly-fishing community. However, in the past seven or eight years, we have focused on recruiting volunteers when engaging with forest visitors while on patrol, since they are recreating in the area that we patrol and are inquisitive about damage to resources.

We have also reached out to innercity conservation and hiking groups, who have shown an interest in our work. One, in particular, Trash Free Earth, joins us every three months for a stream cleanup in an area where there is a large amount of visitor use and abuse. As a result, some of their volunteers have completed the FRVC training program and are participating in some of our other conservation projects.

In addition, we have created an educational grant program for college students who are working toward a degree in environmental science, fisheries management, forestry, or wilderness management, which has also provided the opportunity for these applicants to participate in our volunteer work and in some cases for seasonal employment with the Forest Service.

Richard: When a volunteer visits a stream, what does that visit typically entail?

Tom: Stream patrols are scheduled for a set date, usually on Saturdays, for the entire year, while most other activities and projects are scheduled a month or two in advance and take place on weekends and weekdays when working with the Forest Service or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Volunteers choose to participate in activities of interest to them, as their time permits.

The activity starts at a specific location for each stream patrol with a safety talk and a detail of the activity for the day, including the location, time required, and the driving and hiking distance. Prior to driving to the stream, the activity leader contacts the Forest Service via radio, providing their identification, the number of volunteers, and their destination. We always carry a radio when we are in the field, and we stay in contact when we move locations, need assistance, or are reporting an incident.

The function of a stream patrol is to interact with the forest visitors by discussing their plans for the day, giving directions, and issuing fire and wilderness permits when and where required. On almost all streams, we service the CDFW angler survey boxes and interact with forest visitors. The tasks performed while on patrol vary, depending on the location of the stream, the time of the year, and/or the elevation. As an example, streams that are easily accessed by vehicle often require the removal of illegal fire rings, graffiti, recreational dams, trash, and even some invasive plants, such as Spanish broom or tamarisk. On streams in remote areas or where hiking is required, there are fewer visitors, so a volunteer may see only a few people and just service the angler survey box and pick up a little trash.

When we are on an FRVC patrol, we are always on our own, with two to four volunteers. When we are working on a project designed and supervised by the FRVC that has been approved by the Forest Service, we may have a group of 12 to 50 or 60 volunteers under our direction. On a very few projects supervised by the Forest Service on which we have been invited to assist, we are with Forest Service staff members. When we are working on a project for the CDFW, we are with their personnel, except for individual tasks that we perform for the CDFW, such as servicing angler survey boxes and temperature recorders or repairing CDFW signage.

Richard: If the FRVC did not exist, what would be the condition of the streams your volunteers patrol?

Tom: We cannot keep up with the trash from visitors in the sections of streams with easy access during the period from May through September. On three different streams that we patrol, it is a common occurrence to remove fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds of trash in a one-quarter mile section. On three different streams, we have all but given up trying to keep up with graffiti removal. At times, it’s so overwhelming that you just need to move out of these areas and spend the rest of the day in a pristine area so you can go home with some feeling of accomplishment and a positive attitude.

Richard: What sort of budget does the FRVC operate with? How do you raise money for your work?

Tom: The primary source of our income is derived from the sales of Forest Service Adventure Passes, which we purchase from the Forest Service and resell to forest visitors when we staff the San Gabriel Canyon Gateway Visitor Center two weekends each month. With annual average sales of $45,000, we generate approximately $37,000 a year for the Forest Service and a profit of $8,000 for the FRVC. Our operating expenses, other than the purchase of Adventure Passes, are approximately $4,500 per year.

Our work provides the Forest Service 10,000 to 11,000 volunteer hours each year, which the Forest Service values at $213,500 to $235,000 annually.

THE FRVC LOGO

Richard: What challenges does the FRVC face, and have these challenges changed over time?

Tom: Volunteer retention is a big challenge. In the past 18 years, 540 volunteers have attended the FRVC Training Program. The 82 who are currently active constitute only 15 percent of those who have gone through the training.

The high turnover of Forest Service personnel is also a challenge, due to the necessity of having to develop a relationship and gain the trust of new staff members with whom we need to work.

Many younger volunteers are not interested in working on the same stream every month, especially if it is a stream with lots of visitor use and abuse, whereas older volunteers are willing to patrol the same stream every month. As a result, we have taken on many new projects, working with fisheries biologists and hydrologists, that interest younger volunteers. Unfortunately, most of those projects take place during the week, when younger volunteers are at school or at work.

Another challenge is the damage to forest resources from mining on the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. Thirty-three miles of the river and its tributaries were designated as a Heritage and Wild Trout Stream by the California Fish and Game Commission in 2010. The management plan has been completed, but not implemented. In the interim, this once-vibrant fishery is in a serious state. Based on angler surveys at the East Fork trailhead, the catch rate over the last five years has consistently dropped each year, from an average of between 1,000 to 1,200 fish to only a single fish caught in 2016 and only 10 fish caught this year through December 16. This fishery has been abandoned by its caretakers and by the anglers who used to fish this stream often.

Richard: If fly fishers in other regions of California would like to establish an organization similar to the FRVC, what recommendations would you give them?

Tom: The first thing that I would suggest would be to prepare an agenda listing the issues and needs and potential solutions for each issue. The Forest Service knows the issues — what they need are solutions to them and a commitment to follow up and make things happen.

Once the agenda has been prepared, I would ask to meet with the Forest’s recreation officer, resource officer, and volunteer coordinator (if there is one) to discuss the issues to which you are prepared to commit your time and financial resources.

Richard: If readers would like to volunteer with the FRVC or donate, what’s the best way for them to do so?

Tom: Anyone interested in volunteering with the FRVC can contact me via e-mail at tomwalsh2743@gmail.com. Additional information and a current calendar of events is available on the FRVC website at www.frvc.net.

As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation for charitable and public purposes, donations are tax deductible and should be made to the Fisheries Resource Volunteer Corps. They can be sent to: FRVC Treasurer, 1828 East Calaveras Street, Altadena, CA 91001.

Richard: What attracted you to the FRVC? How long have you been involved with the group?

Tom: I have volunteered for several causes and organizations over the past 50 years. After 15 years as a scout leader while my three sons participated in scouting, I was looking for a conservation group to volunteer with and discovered the FRVC while attending the Fred Hall Fishing Show in Long Beach, where I met Bill Reeves, the FRVC president at that time. I attended the FRVC training program two weeks after meeting Bill and have been a volunteer for the past 18 years. At the present time, I am wearing several hats, filling in as a stream leader and website manager, and I have been the FRVC president since 2010.

Richard: How did you become interested in fly fishing?

Tom: Prior to becoming an FRVC volunteer, most of my fishing was centered on backpacking trips in the eastern Sierra with a group of scouts, and I fished small lakes with flies using a bubble with a light spinning rod. Bill Reeves gave me a copy of The Curtis Creek Manifesto to read and then took the time to teach me how to cast. I caught my first fish on a fly rod on Lytle Creek’s Middle Fork 18 years ago.

Richard: Given your interest in protecting Southern California’s freshwater fisheries, what are your general observations regarding trends in the region? What can fly fishers do to change them? What should governmental agencies be doing?

Tom: Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen a significant decline in three streams that we patrol, specifically, Piru Creek at Frenchman’s Flat, the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, and San Antonio Creek, including Icehouse Canyon. Some of the decline is due to drought, poaching, damage to resources, and of course the termination of trout stocking 10 years ago as a result of environmental litigation.

Fly fishers need to voice their concerns by writing to the Forest Service, which is responsible for managing the land, and to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is responsible for managing the waters. We also need to express our concern with the CDFW Heritage and Wild Trout Program, which is responsible for managing designated Heritage and Wild Trout Waters and for protecting and restoring native trout and their habitats. It’s been seven years since a Heritage and Wild Trout designation was approved by the California Fish and Came Commission for the 33 miles of the East Fork of the San Gabriel River and its tributaries. We need to ask the California Fish and Game Commission when they intend to implement the management plan for this stream. I would suggest that any fly fishers who have fished the East Fork of the San Gabriel River beyond the trailhead at Heaton Flat over the last 10 years take a day and walk the stream to witness the damage to the resource, then voice your concerns to these agencies.

Angeles National Forest 2016

table — THE TABLE ABOVE PRESENTS THE PATROLS, EVENTS, AND PROJECTS THAT THE FISHERIES VOLUNTEER RESOURCE CORPS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST IN 2016 (DATA FOR 2017 HAVE NOT YET BEEN COMPILED). IT IS AN IMPRESSIVE SCOPE OF WORK, PARTICULARLY FOR A VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION. A SIMILAR TABLE HAS ALSO EEN PREPARED FOR THE SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST. WATERS PATROLLED THERE BY THE FRVC INCLUDE BEAR CREEK, DEEP CREEK, DEEP CREEK HOT SPRINGS (ALSO KNOWN AS WARM SPRINGS), LYTLE CREEK, MILL CREEK, AND THE SANTA ANA RIVER. SOURCE: FRVC.

Richard: It’s something of a truism that fisheries won’t be well protected if anglers aren’t fishing them and speaking up about their problems. For fly fishers who wish to explore SoCal trout opportunities, what advice would you give them in searching for interesting experiences?

Tom: To an FRVC volunteer, interesting experiences can mean a number of things, such as cleaning up a religious sacrificial site or discovering a massive mining site where tons of rocks have been removed, creating a hole 80 to 300 feet long and 20 feet deep.

When I joined the FRVC, I was exposed to many trout waters, and that still happens 18 years later. However, we don’t get much time to fish those areas, because we spend full days documenting damage to resources, downloading water-temperature data, collecting water samples, removing recreational dams, or just cleaning up an abandoned campsite and carrying trash out of the backcountry. As for Southern California trout opportunities, I would suggest exploring the many creeks and streams in the San Bernardino National Forest, where we were surprised to find trout in some small creeks in remote areas when conducting stream inventories, collecting water samples, and performing various tests in the field for the Forest Service.

Richard: Here we are at the end of the interview and our Silly Tree Question: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

Tom: I would be a sequoia redwood so I could live long enough to see if we took care of our forests and if forest volunteers actually made a difference over the next century.