DatesMay 3rd - May 9th 2009 Service ProjectRiver restoration, Russian olive & Tamarisk removal Free DaysSlot canyon, narrows or slickrock hike. Scenic drives. AccommodationsTent or car camping in State Park. Showers, flush toilets, sheltered tables. Trip RatingActive : Lopping, sawing and dragging Russian olive and Tamarisk trees LeadersDudley McIlhenny Equipment |
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, established in 1996, is a 1.9 million acre public treasure offering some of the most breathtaking scenery and diverse habitat found in the Colorado Plateau. The monument's vast and austere landscape embraces a spectacular array of scientific and historic resources. This high, rugged and remote region, where bold plateaus and multi-hued cliffs run for distances that defy human perspective, was the last place in the continental U.S. to be mapped. Even today, the unspoiled natural area remains a frontier, a quality that greatly enhances the monument's value for scientific study. The monument has a long and dignified human history: it is a place where one can see how nature shapes human endeavors in the American West. The monument presents exemplary opportunities for geologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, historians, and biologists...and of course volunteers! Our project is year three of the ongoing effort by Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to restore the Escalante River ecosystem by removing invasive Russian olive and Tamarisk trees from its tributaries. GSENM is partnering in this overall 10-year effort with Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, the State of Utah, private land owners and nonprofit organizations. The worksite is in shallow desert mountain creek bottoms including North Creek and Upper Valley Creek, upstream from the town of Escalante. Russian olive, originally planted in the 1930s as a wind break and decorative tree, has spread throughout many wild river systems in the western U.S. in part due to its very successful seed distribution in rivers. Once it gets a foothold it quickly begins to out-compete young native species such as Cottonwood and Box Elder and then dominates entire riparian zones. Tamarisk was introduced to control soil erosion and has spread throughout the west. Very few desert waterways remain untouched by Tamarisk, which sterilizes soils below it to prevent other species from taking root. Besides dominating entire ecosystems, both invasive trees additionally are water hogs, further depleting precious water resources. Volunteers will identify Russian olive and Tamarisk and use loppers or hand saws to cut them down and then drag them away from foot paths. After cutting, volunteers will apply an herbicide to stumps to prevent re-growth. Escalante Petrified Forest State Park , located 1.5 miles west of Escalante, is donating car and tent camping in their group campsite. Full accomodations include free showers, flush toilets, fire pit, sheltered tables and parking at the site.
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