A local volunteer day near Orcutt, California was a huge success, with participants logging more than 380 hours to remove barbed wire, hog wire and t-posts from an old feedlot following the 2025 Madre Fire. Much of the fencing was 5-strand barbed wire laid over hog wire, and removing it provides better access to forage for the resident tule elk, helping prevent them from getting tangled in the old wire.
With 25 volunteers on one day, and 15 the next, they disposed of wire that had been taken down and loaded it into two large roll-off garbage bins. With those first bins quickly filling, two more were brought in to hold more wire during the work project.
The elk even came by each day to check on the progress. To put some numbers to the work accomplished ,2.15 miles of fence line were cleared including approximately 2,200 t-posts, 6.36 miles of barbed wire, and 0.92 miles of hog wire which opened about 80 acres of habitat for the elk. Volunteers came from Bakersfield, Highland, Seaside, Livermore, and the surrounding area to measurably improve the habitat and ease access and navigation for these majestic animals.