Aldos Silver City • Entered by Marcia Stout on July 15, 2024
Riparian – Grazing Monitoring
June 1, 2024 – July 2, 2024
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | |
| Post Admin hours | 1.5 |
| Activity Hours | 5.5 |
| Participants | 2 |
| Total Hours | 12.5 |
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 (4.5 miles)
Short Description of Activity
On June 23, one of our monitoring team went up Signal Peak Road and took pictures of six trespass cattle. Subsequent conversations with the Forest Service indicated that the cows may have been from an allotment on the other side of the Continental Divide. One June 26 two team members monitored in the Gila River Bird Area, walking the Sanctuary Trail area that was last monitored in April 2024, when we found fresh cattle sign. No new sign was found. We believe that when the May round-up occurred to move cows from the adjacent allotment to a summer pasture, none were left behind, unlike in previous years. On July 2, a friend of the team who is a professional photographer sent us photos of cows in Meadow Creek. These appear to be the same cows found on June 23. The photos were forwarded to the Forest Service along with an email report.
Reflection/Evaluation
Despite very high temperatures in June, our broadband team was able to monitor in the Gila River Bird Area, and believe that efforts are paying off… no cows were found. In addition, we heard from a key contact with another environmental organization that the Gila Natl. Forest has recently hired an employee who will frequently be assigned to the the Bird Area and he thinks our focused monitoring and meetings regarding this area have played a role in that. We have also reported trespass cattle in non-riparian high elevation areas during the hot month of June.
Photos/Uploads
Upload 1 |
Upload 2 |
Photo Captions
1. Trespass cattle reported off Signal Peak road on June 23.
2. Cattle observed in Meadow Creek. (Emailed report to Forest Service)