of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter
In February 2020, Ron and Mary Ann were featured — on the front cover, no less! — in their local community magazine, Culver City Neighbors. The article details the history of their decades-long relationship with the Santa Monica Mountains, including their accomplishments in trail building and environmental advocacy with the Santa Monica Mountains Task Force.
Click here to read the story.
You’re out on a trail. Being the well-prepared hiker you are, you’ve packed plenty of water, and a lunch. Midday sun glares down, and shade — and your stomach — beckon. You stop and get out your sandwich in a baggy, chips, banana, oranges, and a plastic bottle of water.
No trash can. So, being the conscientious, eco-friendly hiker you are, you’re gonna keep your bottle, chip bag and baggy. But the fruit peels? They’ll biodegrade, right? You can toss them beside the trail, right?
*AIRHORN* — not exactly!
Many people assume it’s okay to leave “natural” food waste on trails or in parks, but it’s still waste. Discarded banana and orange peels are unsightly, and take years to degrade, particularly in Southern California’s dry climate. They are also alien items in the ecosystem, unfamiliar and harmful to our local wildlife, because our food scraps alter their natural behaviors, habituating them to humans and exposing them to predators and other dangers.
We’re all familiar with the authority of the law. But there is also what is known as the authority of the resource, meaning we observe the higher impulse of keeping Nature pristine, because it’s nature.
Dr. George N. Wallace’s Authority of the Resource (PDF) describes a simple and kindhearted approach to educating others — friends and strangers alike — on reducing their impact on the wilderness, that can empower you to take action if you notice someone leaving their fruit peels behind, or behaving in some other manner at odds with the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace. Consider taking this approach to help spread awareness among other trail users about how we’re all affected by the condition of our environment, in ways perhaps less direct but more powerful than a simple ticket.
The checklist below, provided by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, sums up Wallace’s method:
1. Give the person the benefit of the doubt.
It could have been someone else that caused the impact. People will be more responsive to you if you show them consideration and tact.
2. Build rapport with the person that you are approaching.
Get to know the person. They may be new to traveling and camping outdoors and do not have experience minimizing their impact.
3. Stand side by side.
Never confront someone eye to eye. Stand off to the side so the problem is out in front of both of you.
4. Educate.
Teach people the reason why their impacts affect the environment.
5. Give an alternative.
Lastly, try and provide them with an alternative, like taking pictures of an antler shed versus taking it out of the environment.
Something remarkable is unfolding in the mountains above our urban sprawl — something for the ages. Parcel by parcel, acre by acre, we have amassed the largest swath of protected open space of any major metropolis in the nation. Its a text-book example of collaboration between federal, state and local officials who worked hand-in-hand with grass roots groups dedicated to protecting the area from the kind of development that overtook the Hollywood Hills. For Zev Yaroslavsky, the preservation of the Santa Monica Mountains is both political and personal.
Click here to watch this enlightening video (run time 6:32), published online ten years ago by former LA County Third District Supervisor, Zev Yaroslavsky.
The Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council recognized Ron Webster with a Lifetime Achievement Award at their 2019 Annual Dinner Meeting, held in Agoura Hills on Thursday, October 24th.
Ron himself, however, was unable to attend the dinner. Therefore, SMMTC President Ruth Gerson (pictured right) along with SMMTC trail crew leader Jerry Mitcham joined Ron on Sunday, November 10th for a celebratory breakfast at his favorite local spot, La Dijonaise Café in Culver City. They presented him with a certificate (you can read the text below) and an engraved clock.
The Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019.
Conservationist, Leader, Visionary – Ron Webster has devoted his life to the establishment, protection and maintenance of the trail system in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Ron’s interest in trails began over forty (40) years ago in the early 1970’s. Ron and his wife, Mary Ann, worked tirelessly with others to help establish State Parks and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). Then, Ron directed his full attention to developing the trail system. Under his leadership and inspiration, the Sierra Club trail crew, the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council trail crew, and many other organizations have contributed hundreds of thousands of volunteer service hours to the trail system in the Santa Monica Mountains and nearby jurisdictions.
Ron has an incredible list of trail building accomplishments. Most importantly, he defined the alignment, and then designed and supervised the construction of over 30 miles of the 67-mile Backbone Trail, which was designated a National Recreation Trail upon its completion. Ron collaborated with National Parks, State Parks and other land use agencies throughout his trail building years; and, consequently, he is a vast storehouse of knowledge, skills and techniques related to trails. Long ago, Ron became the “go to guy” on virtually any question regarding trails in the Santa Monica Mountains; and, fortunately, he has transferred much of this information to other trail building crews. The Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council trail crew often joins Ron and his Sierra Club trail crew on work projects. In addition, the Trails Council trail crew frequently seeks Ron’s advice on trail projects.
Ron has a unique ability to define just the right alignment for a trail. He always finds the route that gives the trail user the maximum exposure to natural resources while also protecting those resources. Ron’s mantra is that a trail should “lay lightly on the land.” He avoids using heavy machinery to build a trail, favoring hand tools and manual labor in all trail construction.
Ron Webster’s commitment to his vision of a trail system in the Santa Monica Mountains is extraordinary. Not only has he worked continuously to accomplish this goal, he has inspired and led thousands of others to assist in expanding this vision. In the past 40 years that Ron has advocated for trails as well as designing and building them, he is probably the most important individual contributing to the development of the hundreds of miles of trails in the largest urban park in the nation. He is a true Trail Champion.
Ruth Gerson, President
Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council
October 2019
