Aldos Silver City • Entered by Marcia Stout on June 14, 2022
Riparian – Grazing Monitoring
May 1, 2022 – May 31, 2022
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | 24.5 |
| Post Admin hours | 2 |
| Activity Hours | 9.25 |
| Participants | 6 |
| Total Hours | 82 |
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 (3 surveys)
Outcome 2: Hiked (15 miles)
Short Description of Activity
The GOB Riparian Monitoring Team had a busy May. The USFS has a grazing monitoring survey used in many national forests, and on May 4 we participated in a day-long training session about this program. On May 13, we went into the field with a FS staff person to practice the new program at Saliz Creek; we also sent in a report to the FS database for the trip. We encountered no new cattle sign. On May 5, two members monitored The Gila River downstream from Alum Trail in the wilderness area and also did not encounter new sign. On May 24, we encountered plenty of fresh sign on a trip downstream from the end of the road at the Bird Area of the Gila River. We reported an open gate about 2 miles in, and have not yet heard of any action taken (there is a huge fire in the Gila national Forest at this time).
Reflection/Evaluation
The advantage of the new monitoring program is that it feeds into a large database and allows for more information/ images. However, our team misses some of the features of the program designed by the Gila National Forest, especially the attention to fresh sign and the notification of all concerned parties directly from the app. Monitors must now make sure to contact appropriate FS personnel directly if there is a problem. We have hopes that the creators of our current program will take into account the suggestions we made about program modifications during the training. After the training, the GNF Natural Resource Manager provided us with a sheet outlining suggestions of what additional kinds of information to record on the app, including observations that will help with monitoring going forward. (Basically, he suggested the more info we add, the more helpful it will be to them.)
Photos/Uploads
Upload 1 |
Upload 2 |
Photo Captions
1. Practicing use of the revised monitoring survey app at Saliz Canyon, with GNF staff (Jose Delgado)
2. Monitoring on the main stem of the Gila River, downstream from the trail head.