Activity Report Explorer

Aldos Silver City • Entered by Marcia Stout on July 31, 2023

Riparian – Grazing Monitoring

July 1, 2023 – July 31, 2023

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: Hiked (13.5 miles)
Outcome 2: Trail/land monitored (2 surveys)

Short Description of Activity

The Aldo’s Broadband Riparian Monitoring Team conducted one monitoring trip in July 2023, and several exploratory trips, all with the goal of finding new access points into the San Francisco River. On July 4, one member drove to find SF River access points. On July 7, four members explored an access route, only to discover that the route back up from the river could have been too hot, given July’s extreme temperatures. On July 18, one member accompanied a Forest Service cuckoo-monitoring team to find an access point through lands recently acquired by the NM Department of Game and Fish. The group walked several miles up the river, and did see some recent horse manure (and heard 5-6 cuckoos). Also, on July 18, two team members and one guest did a survey along the Gila River in the Bird Area, which has been a perpetual problem area for trespass cattle. Sure enough, the GOBs found a lone cow, probably the same one we had seen the previous month. The FS told us that they would work on figuring out whom the cow belongs to – the permittee, whose cattle have supposedly been removed to another pasture, or an adjacent landowner, who has no FS permit.

Reflection/Evaluation

The GOB monitoring team continues to report trespass cattle in the Bird Area. We weren’t able to do any long surveys this month, given the very high temperatures, but we were able to find an excellent new access point for future surveys.

Photos/Uploads

Upload 1

Photo Captions

1. Scouting access to San Francisco River for monitoring on July 7, 2023