"Stunning area."
"A wonderful project."
"Harder work than I expected. "

These comments came from a crew of hard-working volunteers who devoted a week of their time and energy in May to a vital restoration project at Western Watersheds Project's Greenfire Preserve.

The project required intense physical labor. Ten volunteers planted 2,200 native plants as part of the uplands restoration effort at Greenfire.

The week of work was broken up with free time for hiking, wildlife viewing and relaxing in the spring sun on the deck of the main Greenfire property. The volunteers also learned about WWP's activities to protect western wildlife and landscapes.

The participants came to Greenfire through Wilderness Volunteers, a nonprofit group that organizes volunteer projects on public lands and conservation properties.WWP member Dale Grooms and I led the Greenfire effort, which was coordinated with WWP preserve manager Stew Churchwell.

WWP member Bob Wagenknecht also pitched in for a couple days of hard labor, which included a tough stint operating a mechanical hole digger generously loaned by WWP board member Gene Bray.

The participants came to central Idaho from far-flung points, including Florida, Virginia, Texas, Illinois and Oregon. Two participants, Rex Gresham from Texas and Norma Matson from Illinois - ages 81 and 78, respectively - had twice the energy of folks half their age, and were dynamos at planting and cutting mats.

Rex had already shown an affinity for WWP's mission by noting on his trip application: "I don't eat beef as a protest against welfare ranchers!"

The work site was at the east end of the Greenfire property. There, the volunteers planted vegetation along a half mile strip next to a dry wash and road. Currently bare ground, the area is intended to provide a wildlife corridor and forage from the White Cloud Mountains to the East Fork of the Salmon River.

A bonus of the location was its proximity to the nesting site of peregrine falcons, which the group saw and heard as the raptors flew about the nearby cliffs!

The group faced the daunting task of getting 2,200 bare­root plants into the ground and covered with protective matting in just four work days. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game provided the plants and matting as part of the first installment of a 10-year grant to WWP

The plant species included serviceberry, chokecherry, hawthorn, wild rose, basin big sage, four-winged saltbrush and juniper. Some of the serviceberries, chokecherries, roses and hawthorns were already 2 to 3 feet high, with roots up to 2 feet long, requiring wide and deep holes.

Most planting holes were dug by hand, so the volunteers were well-acquainted with their shovels by the week's end. Everyone also came to know Greenfire's rocky clay soil, but they persevered steadily, hour after hour, through weather that ran the gamut from hot sun to snow, rain and wind.

In the middle of the week, after two days of strenuous shoveling, planting, and cutting and placing mats, the volunteers enjoyed a well-deserved day of leisure. Exploring nearby areas, including Herd Lake and Bowery Hot Springs along the Upper East Fork of the Salmon River, the group saw lots of wildlife, including golden-eyed ducks, a mother moose and calf, and pronghorn.

The snowy white Boulder Mountains presented stunning vistas along the Upper East Fork, which were marred by cow manure-dotted meadows and trampled streams. Unmistakable damage from domestic livestock grazing in this otherwise gorgeous area gave the volunteers a firsthand lesson in why WWP is working to end abusive grazing in this area.

The group continued its work for the remainder of the week. The final plant went into the ground at 4:10 p.m. on the last day of the project.

The Wilderness Volunteers celebrated their successful project with a salmon barbeque and reflections on a week of hard work, camaraderie and education about domestic livestock grazing on public lands. Each participant also left with a copy of "Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West."

WWP thanks these volunteers for their energy and dedication, and looks forward to another Wilderness Volunteers project next year on uplands restoration at Greenfire.

For more information about Wilderness Volunteers, visit www.wildernessvolunteers.org.

Debra Ellers is President of WWP's board of directors. She lives in Boise, Idaho.