Three of this year’s prestigious national awards for volunteerism in the Forest Service went to individuals serving the Pacific Southwest Region and, of those, two are awardees from the San Bernardino National Forest. Within our local forest area, there are over 1,500 volunteers and, of those, 13-year-old Jeff Gumpertz of Running Springs has volunteered for over a year with the Children’s Forest. Gumpertz also had the winning design for the volunteer t-shirt contest. The San Bernardino National Forest’s other national honoree for volunteerism is the Big Bear Valley’s own Tim Wood who, on behalf of the Coldwell Banker Tim Wood Group and the Lighthouse Project has sponsored youth and music programs, such as the Music in the Mountains Amphitheater Series. The SBNFA’s Executive Director Sarah Miggins says of Wood, “The financial support has helped cover talent expenses for this venue where we can then outreach and highlight our volunteer opportunities to thousands of visitors that not only enjoy the forest, but then also enlist for volunteer service.”
