May 17th and 18th marked Big Sunday Weekend, a national weekend of volunteering. We were out at White Oak Farm in Calabasas on Saturday and Hansen Dam Recreation Center in Sylmar on Sunday. Throughout the weekend more than 100 volunteers assisted with vital restoration work and tree care, removing thousands of pernicious invasive weeds and caring for hundreds of trees and native plants. The photos below recap the incredible weekend and help show just how diverse our forestry work can be!
Habitat Restoration at White Oak Farm
Jo Kitz, Mountains Restoration Trust’s wonderful Restoration Program Director, teaches a new volunteer how to identify invasive species
Joe Vargas, a veteran TreePeople Restoration Supervisor
Big Sunday volunteers weeding away
This family comes out to the Santa Monica Mountains at least once a month to volunteer together!
Restoration Supervisor Erik Rosenberg educates a Big Sunday volunteer on habitat restoration techniques
Water is a vital part of our work, particularly as the drought continues and temperatures rise
Park Tree Care at Hansen Dam Recreation Center
We started off the morning at a long stretch of trees that lined the parking lot
TreePeople’s Forestry Coordinator, Thierry Rivard, shows a group of Big Sunday volunteers the magic of mulch
Tree care sure is fun!
Showering a tree with some much needed water
Pruning weeds around the base of the tree so that water can reach its intended location, the tree’s roots
A beautiful and successful day at Hansen Dam!
Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who came out and helped on Big Sunday!
By Nicole Liner-Jigamian
Nicole Liner-Jigamian joined the TreePeople family after a year abroad in South and Central America, where she was lucky enough to spend most of her time outdoors, meeting new and interesting people. Upon returning to her hometown of Los Angeles, she knew she wanted a career that would allow her to further develop her knowledge of the natural world while continuing to form strong relationships with people and the community. TreePeople provided the best of both worlds. In her free time, Nicole enjoys riding her bike, watching action movies and cooking.
