Activity Report Explorer

Aldos Silver City • Entered by Marcia Stout on November 6, 2024

Riparian – Grazing Monitoring

October 1, 2024 – October 31, 2024

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 (5 surveys)
Outcome 2: Hiked (22.5 miles)

Short Description of Activity

October was a very active month for our team. The water was neither too high nor too cold for wading in the rivers and tributaries. Also, since some cattle were moved to a pasture near an exclosure on October 15, we needed to check on them. On Oct. 2, one team member checked the Dry Blue exclosure and found no sign of cattle. October 8: Two team members drove out to the Diamond Creek area within the Wilderness District. They checked several places where loose horses had been found last August, as well as a couple of likely spots. They found no recent sign and no horses. They camped at Black Canyon, where they were joined by two more team members the following morning. Four team members walked 5 miles in beautiful Black Canyon, where we were delighted to find no cattle and no recent sign…and two beaver dams. October 23: Four team members walked up the San Francisco River from the near the town of Glenwood. There was horse sign, but we didn’t believe it to be recent enough to warrant Forest Service follow-up. The highlight of the trip – and of the month’s activities – was seeing at least six bighorn sheep on the cliffs above us. They kicked rocks into the river, stopping us until they moved on. This pause was certainly no hardship! On Halloween Day, three team members checked the Gila River Bird Area, where cattle have recently been put back into an adjacent pasture. We found and reported a few problems waiting to happen, including a too-low fence, a turnstile with a place where a calf could go through, and a gate that is slightly off its hinges, making it impossible to close. We saw only one mysterious fresh cow paddie.

Reflection/Evaluation

We were pleased to see that the Forest Service and ranchers had followed up on earlier monitoring trips, and the livestock in the Diamond Creek, Dry Blue and San Francisco River areas were no longer there. The Gila River Bird Area still requires constant monitoring. It was lovely to take a hike in the pristine Black Canyon area with wildlife providing the only tracks and scat!

Photos/Uploads

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Photo Captions

1. Monitoring in the San Francisco River on Oct. 23 – mid afternoon lighting.
2. Monitoring in the San Francisco River on Oct. 23 – in the morning.
3. Team members looking up to see bighorn sheep on the river canyon rim…
4. …And here are the bighorn sheep looking down at us.