Activity Report Explorer

Aldos Silver City • Entered by Marcia Stout on December 12, 2023

Riparian – Grazing Monitoring

November 1, 2023 – November 30, 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: Trail/land monitored (2 surveys)
Outcome 2: Hiked (12 miles)

Short Description of Activity

On November 14, two of the GOB grazing monitoring team monitored the San Francisco River below Cosmic Campground, with a possible new member coming along to see what we do and consider joining. She was hooked, so we now have a new member of the grazing committee for a total of six. We were pleased to find no recent cattle sign or ATV tracks. On November 29, three GOBs monitored the Gila Bird Conservation Area. We missed monitoring it last month, but the month before we did not find any recent cow sign, a first since we started monitoring that area several years ago. While that was encouraging, we were very disappointed to find fresh sign this time and reported it to the Forest Service. We checked fences along a long stretch of the exclosure fencing, the gate at Ira Canyon and the fence across the river at Poncho Canyon, but we didn’t find any down or breached area that would allow cow access. In addition to the survey report, we wrote an email to the Silver City Range Con and District Ranger, as usual, and the District Ranger responded that she had also seen the sign the day before when she was out there. We are waiting to hear back on any action taken but will inquire again if we don’t hear soon. On November 28, several committee members, including our new member, went to the FS to have maps reloaded onto phones to make sure we have all of the updated allotment maps. Diane Smith, our new member will also be signing the FS Volunteer Agreement.

Reflection/Evaluation

Adding a new member to the committee helps reinforce the important monitoring work that we are doing. We were able to enjoy hiking in remote and beautiful areas of the Gila National Forest, while contributing to less cattle impact in riparian areas and management goals of the FS. While monitoring the river exclosure beneath Cosmic Camp, it appeared that damaged or missing fencing was repaired. We feel our previous monitoring reports played a role resulting in that maintenance improvement and perhaps played a role in no recent cattle sign observed – particularly compared with cattle sign we had previously observed.

Photos/Uploads

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Photo Captions

1. Headed for the San Francisco River (beneath Cosmic Campground) while monitoring and taking in the autumn palette. Nov. 14, 2023.
2. Monitoring along the San Francisco River (beneath Cosmic Campground) while explaining the survey process to our new monitoring team member. Nov.14, 2023.