By Cari Slater
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
Arrowhead Ridge and the Will Abell Memorial Trail have been an enduring effort by a diverse group of likeminded partners to honor a land and return it to its former natural glory. On Saturday, May 18 the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust (SBMLT) held the grand re-opening of the Ridge and celebrated enhancements and the expansion of the Will Abell Memorial Trail.
This project was made possible with a grant from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians through its foundation San Manuel Cares and a matching fundraising component from Scott Seccombe’s barefoot hike through the platform GoFundMe. It has taken three years to accomplish the recent enhancements and expansion and is an ongoing effort.
In attendance at the event were approximately 50 individuals, including representatives from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the SBMLT, project volunteers and other supporters and nature lovers.
The event began with a land acknowledgement given by Polly Sauer, vice president of the SBMLT, to recognize the land as ancestral land of the indigenous people. “We hope to honor and celebrate our indigenous neighbors and partners,” said Sauer.
Joe Maarango, cultural seat of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, was then invited up to the podium. Maarango explained that the land was ancestral land of the Maarrênga’yam people, more commonly referred to as the Serrano people.
During his address, Maarango acknowledged “the shared responsibility that we have to protect this land.”
Karla Kellems, coordinator of membership and outreach for the SBMLT, led the presentation and gave historic information about the property, the current Will Abell Memorial Trail enhancement project and the continual work done by the SBMLT. Kellems thanked the funding partners, individual donors, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the hard-working volunteers who have all made this project possible. She pointed out the donor wall, which celebrates donors to the project.
“An anonymous donor wanted to make sure there was something on this land that marked it as ancestral land of the Serrano people. That stone is now in place over at the donor wall,” said Kellems.
Much of the efforts were to expand the trail from its original 2.2-mile loop to a 5.2-mile loop and make the trail more accessible and educational by adding trail signage and kiosks, displaying maps and other pertinent information; there is an ongoing “re-naturing” effort by the SBMLT. In 2011, the SBMLT purchased 80 acres of land after a developer foreclosed on the property. Tireless effort has since been put into bringing the land back to a more natural state, including removal of construction debris, erosion control efforts and planting of trees. An additional 94 acres of adjacent land has been purchased by SBMLT, which allowed for the trail expansion.
Visitors to the Ridge can see an enormous asphalt road upon entering, a remnant of the development project. Motioning toward supple plants growing up through cracks in the hard asphalt, Kellems said, “as you can see nature is taking over.” She explained that eventually the plants will break up the concrete and it will then be removed by volunteers.
Following the presentation, Kellems took eager attendees on a guided and informational hike along the Will Abell Memorial Trail.
“We will be starting on the original trail and tapping into the now enhanced trail so we will get to experience both,” she said.
Along the trail, Kellems provided educational information about plants and wildlife in the area, and pointed out trail enhancements like kiosks, signage, and areas where erosion control had been implemented. From the trail, Kellems pointed to a meadow in which trees had been planted by volunteers in an effort to control erosion. She explained that volunteers quickly learned that nature had its own way of healing itself, when they saw that native plants were thriving over the trees that had been planted there.
In honor of Will Abell’s vision and work on the original trail, his son, Mark Abell, was introduced during the presentation. He commented on the plants breaking through the asphalt roads and said it was the accomplishment he thought his father would be proudest of when it comes to the Ridge’s current condition.
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