National Public Lands Day

Making A Difference Seed By Seed

By Lauren Berutich

"Mom, I really want to do this seeding project for National Public Lands Day. Can we go?"

"I would have to look at it and see what it is all about."

"Ok great, I book marked it for you on your computer. We can sign up when you're done reading."

This was part of a conversation that leads me to, once again, brag about an inspirational weekend with volunteers. What a wonderful way to spend time on the Kaibab Plateau. Friday afternoon we met at the Grand Canyon Trust to pack up the trucks and head east towards the Colorado River. The red sandstone walls looked magical against a stormy, grey clouded sky. The conversation in the car happened to be led by a ten year old, 5th grade student from Phoenix sitting shotgun next to me. He had signed himself and his mom up for National Public Lands Day after he had read about the event in a children's National Geographic magazine. That story alone is enough to turn a field lady such as myself into a mushy story passalonger. This young man and his mom drove hours to join us in something that was extremely new to them and they did it with smiles and bells on. The youth continue to prove that we can and are making a difference each day we reach out both educationally and through hands on conservation activity.

We gathered at the Lee's Ferry Lodge http://www.leesferrylodge.com/ to eat some great food, play a little pool, and learn about our volunteer group. Lastly, off to the Check Station to settle in for the weekend and prepare for the next day. Thanks to Andi Rogers, AZ Game and Fish Habitat Specialist, for her hard work in organizing this seeding project as well as for her amazing power point presentation on the specifics of the work.

Not only did we work in collaboration with AZ Game and Fish, but on Saturday we were joined by two members of the Forest Service as well who worked diligently in the field, raking seed and shuttling cliff rose buckets to other volunteer workers spread out across the Westside. In one full day of work, we managed to plant over 150 pounds of native seed in two plots covering over 40 acres.

What is the meaning of National Public Lands Day to me? An opportunity to cross over boarders with other conservation and government organizations, demonstrate teamwork, act in the restoration of our beautiful public lands, and share an appreciation for one another while walking on lands that are cherished by many. It is a time to become stewards of the Kaibab Plateau and to remind ourselves of the endless work that can be done to continue to restore and protect these beautiful landscapes throughout the entire country.

So thank you to a yoga instructor, a geologist, a data analysist, a novelist, a navy engineer, a great co-worker, a habitat specialist, a wildlife manager, and two stewards of the national forest. Together we worked in improving biodiversity on our nation's public lands and truly made a difference.

ps...The pear pies with the extra buttery crust are on their way!

If you are interested in continuing this work, the Grand Canyon Trust Volunteer Program is leading another project with the AZ Game and Fish for Mule Deer Habitat restoration on Novemeber 3-7. Sign up online at http://www.gctvolunteers.org/.

Good Times at Jolly Sink

Volunteers Doing Research on the Kaibab Plateau
Travis Wiggins

It is Tuesday, my first day back in the office after a 5 day trip to the Kaibab Plateau, north of the Grand Canyon. As I settle back into my work here at the office, I can't help but drift away to the ponderosa pine forests of the Plateau, and the good times I had there with a great group of volunteers, researchers, and field technicians. We camped at a place called Jolly Sink, a grassy meadow tucked into a hillside rimmed with limestone outcroppings. It was a fitting name, as it set the tone for a long weekend of laughter, learning, great meals, and good work.

We worked on two different research projects on this trip, both centered on the 59,000 acre Warm Fire of 2006. One project is looking at how forest ecosystems are recovering after the fire, and how their recovery relates to the intensity of the burn. The other project is taking a look at the effects of reintroducing livestock to a burned pasture 2 years after the fire. These are both exciting projects that we hope will help inform forest management decisions and livestock management policies in the future.

What really gets me excited though, perhaps even more than the research and the promise it holds, is the people. The individuals who volunteered for this trip, for all our trips really, are outstanding. I am continually inspired by their motivation to learn about the issues and to take action. These people are participating fully in their communities, participating in life. It is a great thing to be a part of.

To me trips like this one represent good people sharing ideas and coming together to understand and protect something beautiful. Have you volunteered with us before? What did you take away from your experience? I would love to hear what volunteering has meant to other people who have participated in our program. Please feel free to add a comment!

Bringing Work Home

Wonderful times with great volunteers-

I have heard countless times in various phases of my career building, "never bring your work home with you." Or, "you've got to leave those feelings at your desk and return to them during the week." But, what i've found working in the Volunteer Program is that it is healthy and rewarding to carry my experiences around with me, to keep them tied in a bow in my imaginary feel good pile so that i am able to sift through them throughout my days and step further with a smile. Lastly, how lucky and grateful i am for the opportunity to spend time with such amazing people doing work that i love.

I am thinking now of two projects this summer that helped remind me of how wonderful and true human kind can be. When i returned from these long trips, I felt total inspiration, reward, and instant gratification for the work we are accomplishing on the Kaibab Plateau. The first group to be recognized is Noble Street Prep from Chicago. These high school students applied, raised money, and made it possible on their own to venture to the Southwest and donate their time volunteering. The majority of the students had never left the city, nor been in a camp setting before. Finally, most of the students had never met one another. So for 12 days we spent time listening to bird calls, smelling the intricacies of the Kaibab National Forest, counting the millions of stars in the night sky, and identifying the vast amount of plants and animals of the region all while working 10 hour days repairing fencing inclosures, painting buildings, obtaining overstory data, and collecting lupine and grass seeds on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. These students stirred in me all over again a passion for conservation, for creating a sustainable environment for future generations, for never giving up. I was inspired and in awe of these young, courageous individuals who saw no boundaries, who allowed me to see each moment for the first time as if it were my first day on the job.

The second group of volunteers were generations apart from our Noble Street Prep volunteers. In mid August, we were joined by the Sierra Club ranging in ages from 45 to 81 years. This wonderful, experienced group of avid hikers and "doers" helped us with infrastructure improvements and the collection of overstory data. The work accomplished was top notch and each volunteer added expertise to an already intriguing day in the field. I want to share a moment spent on the porch after a day of hiking, driving, navigating, counting, measuring, and overall working hard. The sun was shining down onto the wooden covered porch in the front of Mangum Camp. There were nalgenes and snacks spread about, the buzzing of bees and humming birds in the background. While crazy creeks rocked, cards were delt, books were read, and war stories from WWII to the present were being told. During this moment, my pen rested on my journal which rested on my lap unnoticed. The world seemed to stop and allowed us a moment of absolute realness. I felt as if, in that hour, everything made sense, and everything that was meant to be was being.

Thank you to two groups of volunteers that inspired so much growth, creativity, and energy. You all are the backbone of our organization. Thank you for genuinely influencing me. Our work will truly influence the great landscape of the Kaibab Plateau for many years to come.

Lauren

What's This Plant? Botanizing with The Grand Canyon Trust Utah Forests Program

It isn’t easy to identify a wildflower when it doesn’t have a flower. But two super, self-taught plant identifiers, namely a retired University of Utah biochemistry professor (aka President of the Utah Native Plant Society) and a Park City custom builder came down to southern Utah to help out with three key projects.

On July 25-27, David and Emma Gardner joined William Gray and Mary O’Brien to survey which plants are growing in the beautiful, glacier-formed, but unsung, “Potholes” region between Left and Right Forks UM Creek (Fishlake NF). We even found a good “reference” spring (i.e., it isn’t generally being grazed by cattle). On the Dixie NF we surveyed a sagebrush community transect inside and outside a cattle exclosure.

Identification of gathered plants continued by headlamp into each night, after eating good suppers prepared by Trust interns Season Martin and Aaron David (who had been working elsewhere in the field all day)..

David Gray photographing nodding onion (Allium cernuum) in a sagebrush/aspen cattle exclosure

Emma Gardner checks out Pothole birds.

It isn’t easy to identify a wildflower when it doesn’t have a flower. But two super, self-taught plant identifiers, namely a retired University of Utah biochemistry professor (aka President of the Utah Native Plant Society) and a Park City custom builder came down to southern Utah to help out with three key projects.

On July 10-12, William Gray joined the Trust’s Mary O’Brien and Wayne Hoskisson, the range expert for Beaver Ranger District, the Fishlake National Forest botanist, and (one of the days) the new Fishlake National Forest Supervisor to provide much-needed skills at “re-reading” plant transects which hadn’t been read in 30 years (i.e., detecting which plants are now present in 20 frames along a 100-foot tape). The job was made considerably more difficult given that cows had already grazed the sites (e.g., see Fig. 1). The transects were in the two Tushar allotments that are the subject of the two-year Tushar Allotments Collaboration in which numerous stakeholders are involved (see http://tushar.ecr.gov/ and http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/programs/forests/utah/tushar_allotments.php )

William Gray finding a tiny buckwheat (Eriogonum caespitosum) on a heavily-grazed site.

Thanks to William Gray and David and Emma Gardner!