Teen Gives Back To Forest
Stanislaus National Forest, CA – Perseverance pays off for a Twain Hart teen in his efforts to protect an archaeological site on the Stanislaus National Forest and become an Eagle Scout in the process.
Many may have given up their final project to become an Eagle Scout with obstacles like the Rim Fire and government shutdown in their way, but not 18-year-old Sean Griffith of Twain Harte. Those events forced a year and a half, but not his resolve. “I finally had a date to get my project done,” says Griffith. He adds, “Then I was told it wasn’t going to be able to be completed because it’s in the fire closure perimeter and there were hazardous trees, so we had to wait for those to get removed to finally complete the project.”
Once he got the go ahead from forest officials, it took Griffith, with the help of 21 scouts, adults, family members and friends, four and a half hours to complete the project located on a Mi-Wok Ranger District Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) trail. Griffith explains, “We made barriers that are about a foot and a half tall, which help prevent motorcycles and quads from jumping them. We put the barriers up on two trails near the archaeological site to protect it.” The goal was also to stop looters from taking artifacts from the site, something that has happened in the past, according to forest officials, who provided the wood to make the barriers.
Besides having patience, some may call Griffith an over achiever as he has already earned 37 merit badges, which is 16 more than is required; and he is not done yet. Griffith says that for his senior project he is building picnic tables for the Crandall Peak OHV staging area. Something he admits is a bit selfish as he is also an avid rider.
