Leaves of three, let them be—to an extent. The risk of being exposed to poison oak comes with the territory for those who volunteer with the Lompoc Trails Committee, aka Lompoc Hike and Bike.
“A lot of our rough work begins with cutting through the vegetation,” committee chair Dave Baker said about an 82-acre development project that the all-volunteer group is about to begin.
Tell-trail hearts
Lompoc Hike and Bike has openings for volunteer positions year round. To stay informed about the group’s volunteer opportunities, including maintenance work at River Bend Bike Park and upcoming construction efforts near the Bodger Trail, register online at lompochikeandbike.com or email lompoctrailscommittee@gmail.com.
Thanks to a recent easement agreement between the committee and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, Lompoc Hike and Bike is clear to develop a network of six new public trails (each connected to the existing Bodger Trail) for hikers and bikers in the unincorporated Lompoc Valley.
“I can’t wait to see my fellow Lompoc-ians, both young and old, and all shapes and abilities, break out of their normal routines and come hike or bike these trails,” Baker said in an email interview. “We hope to begin organized [volunteer] workdays in January, continuing through the summer. … We are looking for skilled equipment operators that would like to help us with the use of mini excavators.”
Registering online at the committee’s website is the best way to stay up to date about the trail network project and additional year-round volunteer opportunities, including monthly litter cleanup along one stretch of Highway 1 near Lompoc, maintenance duties at some public parks, fundraising campaigns, and yearly Arbor Day-themed efforts.
The new public trail network project began in 2015, when Baker spearheaded a separate but comparable initiative, which also ended up helping him and other future Hike and Bike members acquire the 82 acres of land where they envisioned bringing new trails to life, he explained.
“I led a similar project within the city of Lompoc, … building the River Bend Bike Park,” Baker said. “This community park was built with a similar concept through a public-private partnership with the city of Lompoc.
“Part of this partnership involved dedicating the bike park to local community member Al Walker, who had recently passed away,” he continued. “After the dedication, the Walker family gifted us this parcel of land to continue bringing recreational opportunities for the community of Lompoc.”
In 2019, Lompoc Hike and Bike began as an all-volunteer focus group, dedicated to transforming the 82-acre parcel—bisected by the county-owned Bodger Trail—into six new public trails.
“When we reached out to the county of Santa Barbara, they did not have a roadmap of how to build public trails on private land,” Baker said. “After several brainstorming meetings, it was determined that the best course was to grant the county [an] easement to our property, so that they could own the trails and let our committee build and maintain them.”
Baker described the six-year journey that followed as exploring “several different courses before landing the [county’s] final approval.”
To fulfill the county’s requirements, Lompoc Hike and Bike raised funds to pay for archaeological and biological assessments of the 82-acre parcel, with assistance from professional land surveyors and experienced trail builders, Baker said.
The Santa Barbara County Trails Council helped mentor the committee throughout this phase, he added. He also thanked Heidi Jones of Meraki Land Use Consulting for “her patience and guidance throughout this process.”
During the construction phase, paid workers from the Los Padres Forest Association will assist volunteers from the committee with constructing the new trails.
Near the end of 2025, county 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson, who represented part of the 3rd District—which includes the Lompoc Valley—back when the committee originally entered talks with the county, praised the group for its steadfastness.
“I know when I met with you guys six years ago, I was concerned that it might take a while to get to this process,” Nelson told Baker at the supervisors’ Nov. 18 meeting. “I have to commend you and all of your volunteers on just sticking with it. I wish these processes didn’t take so long. I know our board is working on shortcutting some of those things in the future.”
Nelson made his comments shortly before the board approved the easement arrangement with a 5-0 vote.
“Without your guys’ persistence and love for the Lompoc Valley and the Lompoc community, this wouldn’t be happening,” Nelson said.
Baker thanked both Nelson and current 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann for their support at the meeting, as well as the Santa Barbara Foundation and Rotary Club of Lompoc for monetary support through donations.
“You’ve really invested your heart and soul in this project,” Hartmann told Baker. “It isn’t easy keeping an all-volunteer organization motivated and energized when things get extended over such a long period.”
Baker told New Times that the committee has experienced significant volunteer turnover in the past.
“We have had many volunteers join our committee and then burn out and leave for various reasons,” he said via email. “We are extremely grateful for anyone who wants to volunteer their time, energy, or finances to our project. … Everyone on our committee brings something valuable to the table.” ∆
Reach Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood from New Times’ sister paper, the Sun, at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Volunteers 2026.