A Friends of the Forest Day was hosted on Saturday, March 3 by the National Forest Foundation, Alcoa Fastening Systems Carson Operations, and the US Forest Service to restore habitat and continue improvements to the Vogel Flat Picnic Area in Big Tujunga Canyon on the Angeles National Forest.

More than 100 Alcoa employees and their families rolled up their sleeves to plant oak seedlings, help native plants grow and thrive, restore riparian corridors, and repair picnic facilities.

“We are so thankful to have hands-on support from the local community in caring for their national forest,” said Tom A. Contreras, Angeles National Forest supervisor. “For such an urban forest as the Angeles, it really is the only way the job can get done.”

The Alcoa Fastening Systems Carson Operations has adopted the Vogel Flat Picnic Area and will be helping to make bi-annual improvements to the picnic area.

This Friends of the Forest Day is part of a national effort in which volunteers across the country are working on projects to benefit the national forests in their own backyards.