Four Corners • Entered by Jennifer Singer on April 29, 2025
Wilderness Study Area monitoring
April 9, 2025 – April 16, 2025
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | 2 |
| Post Admin hours | 2 |
| Activity Hours | 8 |
| Participants | 2 |
| Total Hours | 20 |
Key Issue: Public Lands Health & Protection
Activity Type: Stewardship (monitoring, sampling, planting, etc.)
Key Partners: Jon Whitehead BLM Park Ranger Dolores Public Lands Office, Sally Sharp
Landscape/area: Dolores River Canyon WSA (28668 acres)
Measurable Outcomes
Outcome 1: Trail/land monitored (400 acres)
Short Description of Activity
Jon Whitehead contacted the Broads main office looking for WSA monitoring help and we got a new project. So strange because I was trying to figure out which mountains were Weber Mtn and Menefee Mtn just a couple of weeks before sitting with friends at Zuma looking from our roof top table. No one knew for sure. Then we got the email to monitor Weber Mtn, Menefee Mtn, McKenna, and Dolores River Canyon WSAs! We discussed it at our First Friday Brunch Meet Up and got 6 volunteers for April training and 3 more for a later training. I met with Jon Whitehead at Dolores Public Lands Office and picked up some Volunteer Agreements on April 9th. We decided on April 16th for the first training and site monitoring at Dolores River Canyon and McKenna Peak WSAs. It was an all day adventure for Jon, Jonnie, and me.
Reflection/Evaluation
It was so awesome to see the new areas for me. Jonnie was very familiar with Dolores River Canyon WSA in Gypsum Valley. I hope she’ll be the leader out there and show the others the monitoring procedures. I’d like to lead at McKenna Peak WSA in Disappointment Valley because it’s right next to the Spring Creek Wild Horse herd. Jon recommended horse riding out there because alot of cultural resources have probably never been identified! He said to take pictures, hopefully with GPS coordinates, and get Avenza Maps on our devices. We also might need first aid training certificates. Weren’t we talking about that with Delaney Rudy- Western Watersheds? I know she was working with an app like that when we camped at CANM Flodine and Yellow Jacket allotments. We plan to do another training with Jon for Menefee and Weber WSAs later when Emily and Pat can be there. I’d like to see some of our Mancos Broads and Bros lead those monitoring trips. We go out monthly from March to October- so there will be plenty of chances for all interested Broads and Bros to get out there. And we only have to fill out a one page form listing any signs of human impacts, invasive plants, natural changes, etc.