Aldos Silver City • Entered by Marcia Stout on October 4, 2021
Riparian – Grazing Monitoring
September 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | 5.5 |
| Post Admin hours | 8.5 |
| Activity Hours | 11 |
| Participants | 3 |
| Total Hours | 47 |
Key Issue: Livestock Grazing Management
Activity Type: Stewardship (monitoring, sampling, planting, etc.)
Key Partners: Gila National Forest
Landscape/area: Gila National Forest (2658321 acres)
Measurable Outcomes
Outcome 1: Trail/land monitored (2 surveys)
Outcome 2: Hiked (7 miles)
Short Description of Activity
Three team members camped along the San Francisco River near Luna, NM, in order to re-monitor a 2-mile section of Stone Creek as far as the AZ border, where 27 cattle had been seen in June, as well as a 3-mile section of the San Francisco River. We were pleased to find no cattle and no recent sign in either area. We also met with the GNF hydrologist about the FS settlement of the lawsuit with the SW Center for Biodiversity, as well as future monitoring sites in The Gila NF. One member consulted with FS Wilderness District Ranger about possible field trips in the Wilderness Ranger District. Two Aldo GOBs prepared an article for the GOB Broadsides newsletter.
Reflection/Evaluation
FS Hydrologist told us that the lack of cattle in Stone Creek was likely a result of our report in June. Since the lawsuit settlement requires careful monitoring of all riparian sites with exclosures, she thinks that we should “just keep doing what you’re doing.” She will look into when cattle are allowed in adjacent allotments to the riparian stream areas we are monitoring and try to get this info to us to help us strategize our monitoring.
Photos/Uploads
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Upload 2 |
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Photo Captions
1. Embarking on monitoring hike along Stone Creek.
2. Exclosure test area along Stone Creek
3. Journey’s end – survey end point under the bridges over the San Francisco River before scrambling up to our vehicle.