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Grand Canyon Trust Volunteers, a program to help restore ecological and archeological resources on eh Colorado Plateau
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General Info

Accommodations

We’ll be car-camping at one or two sites in the Fishlake and/or Dixie National Forest.

Gear

You provide:  Your camping gear for the week, including a head lamp (though we’re working up to a  nearly full moon the last night). It could be sunny (bring a shade hat); it could be cold and rainy (you will need warm clothes and rain gear). We’re up at 9,000-10,000’ in these mountains, so it’s chilly or cold at night. Anyone have a musical instrument to play in the evenings?

If you have a good digital camera, we’d love for you to bring that, along with the USB cord for downloading photos, and whatever charger is needed for the batteries (if they aren’t standard AA).

We provide: Transportation from the meeting site, all meals, snacks, field equipment, and tools.

Please click here for a complete packing list (PDF).

Comments

We need folks willing to do careful (but not complicated) field measurements and to record data onto field sheets, and welcome anyone who likes to identify plants (but such skills aren’t essential for joining this trip). We’ll provide all training needed.


Cottonwood, aspen and willow monitoring -strategic riparian assessment: september 25-30, 2012

Overview

Since 2008, Trust volunteers have been providing the three national forests of southern and central Utah (Dixie, Fishlake, and Manti-La Sal) with crucial monitoring information, particularly our measurements showing too much ungulate (particularly cattle and elk) browsing on riparian aspen, willow, and cottonwood. The tops of these keystone plants are being repeatedly bitten off, preventing them from growing up into mature overstory.

Our measurements are prompting major rethinking of grazing management on all three forests of southern Utah. The reason we’re not quite yet ready to say whether this trip will be on the Fishlake or Dixie National Forest is because we’ll know by June which decisions are going to be critical to influence during 2012. We’ll be going to the allotments where our measurements will make the most difference in imminent grazing decisions.  One thing we know is that the aspen will have bright yellow leaves!

Apply to volunteer on the Colorado PlateauItinerary

Day 1 We’ll meet at 3:00 pm (Utah/Mountain Daylight time) either at the Ranger District office in Loa, UT (Fishlake NF) or the Burr Trail Outpost & Grill in Boulder, UT (Dixie NF). At any rate, our meeting place will be somewhere in southern Utah and we’ll let you know well in advance and provide a map and directions! We will drive up to our campsite, and in the evening, after setting up camp, we’ll talk about why we’re assessing which allotments/pastures. Enjoy a delicious dinner prepared by our staff.
Day 2 We’ll train for how to do the various assessments – mostly browse and stubble height of cottonwood, aspen, and/or willow – and how to record the measurements. By afternoon we’ll be doing our first assessments. Evening: download photos and data, and share dinner and stories in camp.
Days 3-5 Various assessments in small teams. We MIGHT need to move to a second campsite on the afternoon of Day 3. Each evening we’ll enter our data and photos into computers…and have a good dinner prepared by our staff (not necessarily in that order!)
Day 6 Make sure all data and photos are assembled; pack up, and go home with gratitude from the Trust!

 

 

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